The first thing to say about this splendid new CD from MDG is that
the sound quality is quite simply stunning. My usual prerequisite for any
recording is to feel that I am in the same room as the performers. This
present disc makes me think I am sitting amongst the trio. Every detail,
every nuance, of these three intricate works is crystal clear. That is
before I consider the stunning playing by the Ensemble Blumina.
The earliest work here, and possibly the inspiration for subsequent
adventures with this musical combination, is Francis Poulenc’s
Trio
pour hautbois, basson et piano, Op.43 which was composed as far back as
1926, some three years before Previn was born. Poulenc is a composer who I
have always found to be very satisfying. He is able to synthesise various
stylistic parameters without ever giving the impression that he is writing
parody or pastiche. His is a very urbane fusion of neo-classicism,
neo-baroque and sometimes a hint of something more exotic. Stravinsky and
Debussy inhabit some of this music. Poulenc also has a sense of humour and
fun, which is never long-absent from his music. Haydn and Mozart are not too
far away from this trio. However, it has been suggested that the final
movement nods to Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto. The Trio is
in three well-balanced movements with a gorgeous slow movement, showing just
how sensitive the bassoon can be. The concluding rondo is a ‘tour de
force’, full of humour and tongue-in-cheek, jolly little phrases. It
provides a satisfying conclusion to a well-wrought and tightly controlled
work that displays the composer’s innate sympathy in writing for wind
instruments.
My only ‘war story’ about André Previn concerns a
record shop that used to exist just opposite Charing Cross Station on The
Strand. I was engrossed in the browsers working my way slowly from right to
left, and, working his way from left to right…was the Maestro. We
bumped into each other, I apologised; he apologised and smiled. He knew that
I knew who he was.
I have never really come across any of his compositions - apart from
a handful of piano pieces. I know that he is a
composer of considerable stature, diversity and
quantity. The Arkiv catalogue currently lists some 49 CDs featuring
Previn’s music, some of it from his film scores and ‘jazz
songs’ but also including a fair few orchestral works like his piano
and violin concertos. If I had ‘nine lives’ these would be areas
slated for exploration. Interestingly, there are three other versions of the
present Trio for piano, oboe and bassoon. I cannot claim to have heard any
of them for comparison purposes.
Previn’s Trio was composed during 1995 and was premiered in
New York on 31 January 1996. This work is a clever synthesis of styles.
Poulenc may be the exemplar, but jazz and even moments of ‘pop’
are skilfully blended into the texture. The ‘spikiness’ of
Stravinsky is another influence. ‘Elegance’ would seem to be the
watch-word in the first movement: for anyone who thinks that a bassoon must
always play the part of a clown, Previn shows that it can also take the role
of philosopher and lover. The slow movement is particularly haunting with
its languorous melodies played by oboe and bassoon. The composer lets his
hair down in the finale - jazz phrases and ‘breaks’ are the
order of the day, always piquant, and rhythmically free but definitely
establishing the work in a long line of ‘American’ works from
Gershwin to Copland and beyond. This is sophisticated music that is
entertaining as well as just occasionally challenging.
The third work on this fascinating CD is the French composer Jean
Françaix’s
Trio pour hautbois, basson et piano, dating
from 1994. The liner-notes point out that Françaix was heavily
influenced by Ravel and Poulenc in the sound-world and formal construction
of his music. He was also inclined to make use of forms and figurations
derived from older music. The present Trio is composed in four classically
inspired movements including a scherzo which is placed second and is
followed an attractive andante. The scherzo is a delight: playful cheeky and
totally irrepressible, it should be heard so much more often. In contrast,
the ‘andante’ is rather melancholy: it is a beautiful utterance
that possibly reflects the ‘late’ position of this work in the
composer’s canon - he was to die three years later. All is swept aside
in the lively, jaunty finale. This is vintage Françaix that looks
back to one of his undoubted masterpieces,
L'horloge de flore (1959),
for oboe and orchestra.
It is interesting to consider that Jean Françaix’s Trio
was composed nearly seventy years after the Poulenc. There is no way that it
can be described as a copy, yet when one considers how much musical water
had flown under the bridge in this time, it is a surely a tribute to
Poulenc’s enduring musical language.
The liner-notes are excellent with as much information as one could
wish for. My only complaint about this disc is that I feel a little
short-changed - 51 minutes duration does seem skimpy. Could they not have
found another suitable piece, to make up the minutes? I do understand that
the instrumentation is not the most popular amongst composers, but there
must have been another piece somewhere in the repertoire - something by
Handel or Telemann?
I noted above the excellent sound reproduction on this CD. This is
complemented by superb playing by Ensemble Blumina. This is a recording to
treasure.
John France
