Notes and Editorial Reviews
SCHMITT
Ombres. Mirages. La Tragédie de Salomé
•
Vincent Larderet (pn)
•
NAXOS 8.572194 (76:56)
Florent Schmitt was a student of Massenet and Fauré, contemporary of Ravel, so it can hardly come as a surprise that his music is heady with Impressionism. The booklet writer, Gérald Hugon, points out that
Ombres
(Shadows, 1912–17) has distinct parallels with Ravel’s
Gaspard
, and it
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is easy to hear how. The first part (“J’entends dans le lontain”) certainly seems of equivalent technical difficulty. The full form of the movement’s title translates as “I hear in the distance drawn-out cries of the most poignant grief,” and reflects the piece as response to the events of World War I. The movement spreads out over nearly a quarter of an hour; its varied terrain is sensitively negotiated by the young Vincent Larderet. Just as the Mediterranean infuses the Impressionists, so it does “Mauresque,” the work’s slow, reflective central panel. The final part, “Cette ombre, mon image” (That shadow, my likeness), was inspired by a line by Walt Whitman and with it Schmitt’s writing begins to enjoy a timelessness hitherto absent. Larderet, Paris- and Lübeck-trained (in the latter venue with Bruno-Leonardo Gelber), seems perfectly attuned to Schmitt’s fragrant and fascinating Ravel-yet-not-quite sound world.
Only the first movement has multiple recordings available, according to ArkivMusic, yet a little searching reveals Laurent Wagshal on Saphir and Werner Barschi on Accord.
The
Mirages
, op. 70, consists of only two movements. The capricious element of the first (inspired by Pan) is superbly projected by Larderet; the second, “La Tragique Chevauchée” (The Tragic Gallop, dedicated to Cortot) is marked
Emporté et violent
, and Larderet takes the “violent” element to heart, contrasting it with some delightful staccato passages. Finally, the composer’s own version of the second, shorter, version of
Tragédie de Salomé,
a ballet originally for orchestra. Naxos here presents a premiere recording. This is a multifaceted work, anticipating Stravinsky’s
Rite
here while luxuriating in Debussian haze there. Hearing Impressionist orchestral scores on the piano is no cul-de-sac, as Jean-Efflam Bavouzet conclusively proved on his Chandos disc of works that included the magnificent
Jeux
(10545, reviewed by myself in
Fanfare
33:6). Larderet continues the tradition in fine fashion. His performance is gripping and multitimbred. Perhaps the ecstasy of the central “Danse des perles” could rise further. No such gripes to the final movement, however, with its Stravinskian dances expertly, and excitingly, realized.
This disc was reviewed in
Fanfare
35:4 by my colleague Radu A. Lelutiu. I am perhaps a little more enthusiastic about Schmitt’s music. This is definitely one of Naxos’s better releases.
FANFARE: Colin Clarke
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Works on This Recording
1.
Ombres, Op. 64 by Florent Schmitt
Performer:
Vincent Larderet (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917; France
2.
Mirages, Op. 70 by Florent Schmitt
Performer:
Vincent Larderet (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920-1921; France
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