Search - Eric le Sage :: Cosmic Trilogy / The Shining One

Symphonic spectaculars in the French tradition

Philippe Vandenbroeck | HEVERLEE, BELGIUM | 05/01/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It is always intriguing to come across a roster of totally unfamiliar names in a recording of suggestively titled works on a prestigious label such as Chandos. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has been a household name with Chandos, of course, but it is the first time they produce a recording for the label with their French music director Stéphane Denève (who, after a 7-year tenure, will take the helm of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from the 2011-2012 season onwards). Eric Le Sage is a French pianist with an impressive track record, having won the Zwickau piano competition and being prize winner at Leeds in the late eighties. He is currently in the proces of recording the complete Schumann piano output on the Alpha label. Guillaume Connesson, finally, is a young French composer (born in 1970) who has a modest discography attached to his name. This recording certainly seems a major opportunity for him to show his capabilities to a wide audience.



And capabilities this composer certainly has. This recording showcases a collection of four tremendously virtuousic composition. The music is exuberant, sophisticated but not particularly demanding for the listener, however. Connesson's idiom leans heavily on the French impressionists, particularly Ravel and also Dutilleux as a later incarnation of this tradition. At times the chromaticism and dense harmonies spill over in the intoxicating hothouse world of Scriabin. From Messiaen he has borrowed a certain rhythmic pungency and an upbeat, celebratory outlook on life. Not a trace of German weltschmerz in these 52 minutes of symphonic splendour! And finally there is just a whiff of showmanship and postmodern eclecticism in his allegiance to American composers such as John Williams - master of music for the white screen - and John Adams.



The `pièce de resistance' on this recording the "Cosmic Trilogy", a `lyric symphony' which Connesson has pieced together movement by movement over the last 15 years. All three of these movements - Aleph, A Glimmer in the Age of Darkness, and Supernova - pivot on cosmological themes. Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and also the symbol of infinity, opens the work with a powerful symphonic dance. It sounds like a hybrid of Ravel's La Valse, Strauss' Dance of Salome and a Star Wars score. The second movement - `Glimmer' - is a brooding, icy meditation on the dark, inanimate ages that followed upon the birth of the universe. Connesson's palette shimmers as impressively as Ravel's in Daphnis & Chloé. The final movement takes its cue from the collapse of a star's life in a supernova and is the earliest piece of the set, dating from 1997 (when Connesson hadn't even reached the age of thirty). Impressively enough, for me it is musically the most satisfying part of the triptych with a interesting variety of musical material and genuine sense of symphonic development.



Narratively the described sequence makes sense - birth of the universe, slumber, collapse - but musically it seems to me the reverse sequence is more satisfying. The Supernova movement makes for a strong opener, structurally more cogent than the symphonic dance which both formally and texturally fits better at the end. At least, I have taken to listening in the reverse order and this gives me considerably more pleasure. However one decides to listen, the Cosmic Trilogy is a very entertaining piece, written to please and aurally tickle a wide audience, testifying of excellent craftsmanship and a great sensitivity to orchestral colour.



The fourth and last piece on this disc is `The Shining One', a condensed piano concerto barely lasting 9 minutes. Stylistically and thematically it fits well with the Trilogy: it's a sparkling fantasia based on a character from an early fantasy novel.



Although I hesitate to label Connesson's music as truly great - it is a little too derivative and maybe explicitly ingratiating for that - this recording is a welcome addition to the collection. I have only two misgivings regarding this disc. First is the overall timing which is on the short side. But given that it is an elegant and coherent package this is easy to live with. The other concern I have is with the quality of the recording. The recording is issued as a Hybrid SACD to which I listened in 2-channel mode. I suppose it is a matter of personal taste but I am not a fan at all of these contemporary high-resolution digital recordings. Technically `perfect' they may be but to me it all sounds terribly disembodied and sterile. Give me a mid-seventies analogue recording, where you can hear people really making music, anytime! I am quite sure that Connesson's symphonic spectaculars would make a hell of an impression where it to have been recorded thirty years ago."