Naxos took a full decade to record a follow-up to volume 1 of French
composer
Déodat de Sévérac's piano music (
8.555855).
Now within a few months they have brought out a third - and presumably
final
- volume. It
has been worth the wait, though. The warm reception
for
volume 2 (
8.572428)
is certain to be reprised for Jordi Masó's latest programme, which
contains
one of Sévérac's most important works, the Piano Sonata in B
minor.
Curiously, in volumes 2 and 3 Sévérac has had a second
'é'
added to his surname, absent from volume 1. New Grove is hardly of
assistance
as to the propriety of this alteration, using both spellings side by side.
French
sources generally prefer the single 'é' version, but in his notes
veteran
annotator Keith Anderson acknowledges Pierre Guillot's new biography of
the
composer (L'Harmattan, Paris 2010). This is an update of an earlier work
by
Guillot in which he used the form 'Séverac', but in a footnote in
the
new book he explains why the correct form must be 'Sévérac',
even
though the composer himself was known to vacillate.
Stances à Madame de Pompadour ('Stanzas...') is a simple but
lovely
French Baroque-influenced work of serene nostalgia. The jaunty and
humorous
waltz with the bizarre title
Pippermint-Get derives its name from a
French
liqueur and the name of its inventor. The fragrantly modal, programmatic
Chant
de la Terre ('Song of the Earth') is a suite based on agricultural
themes
after Virgil's epic 'Georgics' poem, and like it not always reflecting
rural
idyll. Yet despite a hailstorm, the landsman's toils are rewarded with a
'Wedding
Day' epilogue of bucolic joy.
The centrepiece of Masó's recital is the grand Piano Sonata in B
minor.
Though composed as an exercise set him by Vincent d'Indy, his instructor
at
the Schola Cantorum in Paris, it stands up well to scrutiny. The Sonata
reprises
some of the wistful atmosphere of the
Stances, especially in the
second-movement
Elegy, which reflects, but not in a mawkish way, some of
Sévérac's
feelings at the recent loss of his father and sister. Overall, however,
this
gentle, genial work will be remembered for its blue-sky lyricism and
unabashed
nostalgia. The Sonata was not published until 1990, which is as surprising
a
fact as it is sad - Sévérac's subtly coloured, folk-inspired
music
should be as widely known as that of Fauré or even Debussy.
Catalan pianist
Jordi
Masó's
personable nature comes out in his playing: relaxed and unassumingly
expressive,
his approach is intelligent without over-intellectualising,
listener-friendly
without patronising. He has already recorded extensively for Naxos (and
Marco
Polo earlier), specialising in Spanish and above all Catalan music: nine
discs
of
Turina,
six of
Mompou,
four of
Homs,
three of
Montsalvatge,
Donostia,
Blancafort
and more. His Catalan Piano Album (
8.570457)
makes an ideal sampler, but the present and other two
Sévérac
discs are money well spent by any fan of elegant, atmospheric and tuneful
music
well played.
Sound quality is very good, with consistency across all three volumes
attributable
to the fact that the same venue has been used. Anderson's notes are
detailed
and well written.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
See also review by Paul Corfield Godfrey
