Search - Maurice Ravel, Alceo Galliera, Monte Carlo National Opera Orchestra :: Ravel: Complete Music For Piano Solo

Impressive double disc set.

G. Stewart | Chesapeake, VA USA | 02/06/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As always, when you run in to a bargain set, you have to be cautious, but this Phillips duo is worth the risk.

Werner Haas performs the solo pieces well. There is a bit of a mechanical feel/sound to his playing, like he's playing what he's reading, but not really feeling what he's reading; but the performance is still entertaining and enjoyable.

The Piano Concerto's and 'Gaspard de la nuit' are performed by the National Orchestra of Monte-Carlo and Haas and these have a little more "feel" to them. There is heart, warmth, life in the performances.



Piano Concerto in G has always struck me as an exceptionally odd piece. The 2nd movement is one of the most beautiful, heartfelt pieces I have ever heard, an adagio with soft piano, woodwinds and strings. The 1st and 3rd movements, an allegramente and presto respectively, are contrastingly harsh compared to the 2nd movement. The entire piece is much like an ice cream sandwich (if you'll pardon the analogy); the 2nd movement is smooth, silky, soft and sweet (the ice cream), crammed in between 2 hard, crunchy, loud and brash pieces (the cookies). The entire Concerto is wonderful, but the paradox presented in the 3 movements is striking and fiercely original, in my humble opinion. I also realize for the first time what an influence Ravel must have had on Gershwin as this piece is definitely referenced in Gershwin's work; I would go so far as to say that "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin should have been titled "Rhapsody on a theme of Ravel" or something of the sort.

'Gaspard de la nuit' (translated figuratively to mean "Treasurer {or "Keeper"} of the Night") is a symphonic poem, three pieces that Ravel said were meant "to make a caricature of romanticism". The 3 pieces are based on poems by Aloysius Bertrand, an Italian poet who received much noteriety, unfortunately after his death, due to Ravel's use of the poems as inspiration. Ondine, a water spirit, is the name of the first piece and it evokes pictures of a water fairy dancing on the water, replete with flourishes and waterlike taps of the keys. Le Gibet, literally a device used for capital punishment, evokes "a bell tinting at the walls of a city under the horizon and the carcass of a hanged man reddened by the setting sun" according to the notes that accomanied the composition. The music intends to relate a spooky, ghost-like feel, replete with the droning of bells tolling. Scarbo, a gremlin/ghost (perhaps a beetle), conjures fear and mischief as it dances in and out of view; the piece is actually quite bright and dances (I have read that Ravel intended that this piece be most difficult to play). All 3 pieces accomplish the goal of placing in musical form the described visuals.

Piano Concerto in D (for the left hand) was commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, an Austrian pianist who lost his right arm in WWI, and is heavily influenced by Saint-Saens and his left hand etudes. Considering that the piece is performed with only one hand, the flourishes and cadenza are extremely impressive and, to this untrained ear, sound no different than what may be performed with 2 hands (this is where my lack of musical education really glares, apologies). The piece is beautiful.



The rest of the album contains all of Ravel's works for solo piano.

Highlights would be:

Le Tombeau de Couperin:

I must admit that I prefer the orchestrated version of this (Ravel orchestrated 4 of the 6 movements), but these are enjoyable all. They are performed well and, as I stated above, may tend toward mechanical but I cannot take away from Haas for this. He played what he read and he played it well.

Jeux d'eau:

Transalted 'fountains', 'water games' or 'playing water', is one of my favorite pieces by Ravel and Haas does play this piece with soul and feeling that made my heart warm.

Sonatine:

A 3 piece composition that, from what I understand, was composed for a contest being held by a magazine, the Weekly Critical Review, which eventually cancelled the competition and declared bankruptcy. Ravel didn't even stay wihin the rules of the competition, which stated that the piece must be the "first movement of a piano sonatina no longer than seventy-five measures", and his piece concluded with more than 75 measures, but Ravel was supposedly the only entrant. The piece is enjoyable regardless.

Mirroirs:

Obviously translated 'mirrors', is a view of how Ravel perceives each of the objects upon which the 5 pieces are based; Night-Moths, Sad Birds, A Boat on the Ocean, The Comedian's Aubade, The Valley of Bells. The 3rd piece, 'Un barque sur l'ocean', in my humble opinion, is the best.



There are several other solo piano pieces on the album and all are enjoyable. The standouts of the remaining pieces would be 'Pavane pour une infante defunte', another of my favorite pieces, and one that I had not heard until I bought this album 'A la maniere de Chabrier', a wonder (a piece that I will seek other recordings of due to its beauty).



The recording is good. No perceivable background noise. A little heavy on the bass, but nothing too bad. I am not at all displeased with this album."

The right pianist for the job

Paul Bubny | Maplewood, NJ United States | 09/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The late Werner Haas may not have been the most technically gifted pianist ever to essay Ravel's music (although there's nothing wrong with his technique, either) but he clearly had an affinity for this composer and an impeccable sense of how to put it over. Ravel benefits from a certain Gallic coolness and reserve, an attention to shading along with surface glitter--and this is what you get from Haas, in the solo works as well as in the two concerti. Sonically, these 1960s tapings are dated if clear and well-balanced, but that doesn't diminish the value of this Philips twofer, which is a fine bargain."