Vanessa Wagner - Ravel: Piano Works (Édition 5.1) (2014) [5.1 Surround Sound Quality]

„Pavane pour une infante défunte“, an early work, takes us into the world of dance that perfumes the musical world of Ravel. „Gaspard de la nuit“ in the French Romantic tradition, is a triptych inspired by three of Aloysius Bertrand's prose-ballads: Ondine, the water nymph; Le Gibet (Gallows), paints a gruesome picture of „a bell tolling from the walls of a city, beneath the skyline, and the body of a hanged man, reddened by the setting sun“; Scarbo, depicts the night-time mischief of a mocking dwarf. We return to the dance with the bold‚ “Valses nobles et sentimentales“, a series of waltzes written in 1911. Finally, „Ma Mère l'Oye“ (Mother Goose), shows Ravel's affection for his childhood days. Vanessa Wagner brings out the modernity of these scores, their sudden movements of violence, their moments of ineffable sweetness. She plays with rigour, intensity and a velvet touch.

„I discovered Murcof’s music on the occasion of a screening of F. Lang’s 'Metropolis' for which he created 'live' music. I was immediately fascinated by the rich and sensual textures of his music, by the mystery, the magic that it emanated, far from all known clichés from which all music played on machines usually suffers. His vast musical culture allows him to reach beyond the tenacious frontier between closed worlds to which musicians of all persuasions often confine themselves. I wished to attempt this musical experience by adding my little stone to this edifice of curiosity and openness. We decided to meet – classical piano for me, electronic music for him – in order to rediscover, to re-play (as jazz musicians would do) composers dear to us, from Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel to Arvo Pärt, John Adams or Morton Feldman – who could all be considered as forerunners of contemporary repetitive music.“ (Vanessa Wagner)

Vanessa Wagner, piano