Ravel, Ravel

I discovered on Friday at the ACO concert that Ravel's music puts me to sleep.  The concert was well played and well sung but pre-interval was all Ravel and I had difficulty suppressing yawns. I usually sit with baited breath in classical concerts and leave on a high that takes hours to recede, so it was a novel experience to hear classical music through other ears. 'This', I thought, 'must be what classical music sounds like for those who say they don't like it.'

After the interval Susan Graham sang Respighi and I am very glad she did as it was more dramatic and suddenly I was awake and listening properly to her beautiful voice. I would have like to have  heard more, but it was not to be, as a Piano Quintet by César Franck followed (which I also enjoyed).

Maurice Ravel

Ottorino Respighi

César Franck

I was a bit dumbfounded by my reaction to Ravel's music so I did a bit of research to see if it is a musical period that fails to inspire me. Ravel wrote in what is now called the Impressionistic period (late 19th, early 20th century) but Debussy is also an impressionistic composer and I like his piano tinklings.

Although I don't dislike Debussy's music I don't play it when I paint. Bach, Beethoven, Wagner or Britten's music are conducive to painting for me. There is something in the structure of the music that seems to help the painting process. I find Vivaldi and Handel neutral but I cannot paint to Mozart or Debussy. (Mozart's Idomeneo is the exception - I love the music and would happily paint while it is playing.)

There is a lot written about colour and what it does to our psyche; perhaps we need some scholarly articles about music and it's effect on our emotional balance as well.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet plays Mantovani (and others)

Waiting for Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

I subscribed to the Sydney Symphony International Pianists  series this year and wondered as I did so whether solo piano  would maintain my interest. I realised  during the first concert (Alexander Gavrylyuk) and that piano is entirely sufficient when you have an expert at the keyboard. Each of the four concerts has been very different and each interesting

Last night we heard Jean-Efflam Bavouzet play Beethoven, Mantovani and Ravel.

The Beethoven (three Sonata's including the Apassionata) was wonderful, but then I am always a sucker for Beethoven.

Mantovani is a friend of Bavouzet and wrote the next piece we heard,  Le Livre de JEB, especially for him.  I remembered a friend's records of  'Mantovani (b.1906) and his Strings'  which I had not liked but the music of Bruno Mantovani (b.1974) bears no resemblance to that of his namesake. Le Livre de JEB was astringent, descriptive and altogether enjoyable. In his excellent pre-concert talk, David Garrett had told us the piece was not only written for Jean-Efflam Bavouzet but was a portrait of him. Is it as confronting having a musical portrait written as having a visual portrait painted I wondered?   As I listened to this volatile and changeable piece I couldn't help thinking that it would be.

The last piece was Ravel's Mirrors and what can be better than a Frenchman playing Ravel? It was like hearing Ian Bostridge sing Benjamin Britten's music.