2012-04-28

Music in Cincinnati Thibaudet, Denve Say It in French with the CSO

From Music in Cincinnati

Thibaudet, Denve Say It in French with the CSO

Posted in: Reviews By Mary Ellyn Hutton Apr 13, 2012 - 7:45:11 PM

Stephane D enve J ean- Y ves T hibaudet

The Tricolor flew proudly at Music Hall Thursday evening, as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra presented an all-French program including works by Ravel, Saint-Sans and Albert Roussel. At the piano was one of the worlds greatest pianists, Frenchman Jean-Yves Thibaudet. On the podium was a Frenchman destined for greatness, Stphane Denve. Denve, 40, is currently music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and chief conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra. It was, tout simplement, one of the finest concerts heard in Cincinnati so far this year. Thibaudet, who has been touring large chunks of the French piano repertoire this season, including music by Debussy, Ravel and Saint- Sans, treated the audience to a rare performance of Saint- Sans Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major (not heard at the CSO since 1969, when Lorin Hollander performed it with the CSO, led by Erich Kunzel). Interestingly, Saint- Sans himself performed the CSO premiere of the work in 1906. Subtitled, Egyptian, It is an extremely rewarding work, filled with color and virtuosic appeal. Saint- Sans composed it on vacation in Egypt, and used a Nubian love song as thematic material for the second (Andante) movement. Saint- Sans intended it to suggest a sea voyage, he said, and you could hear that in the opening Allegro animato, where runs, swells and turbulent passages evoked the relentless motions of the deep. Thibaudet, who has made the work something of a specialty, traversed the keys with ease. Enthusiastically supported and enhanced by Denve and the CSO, he infused color into everything beneath his fingers. The Andante was magical, opening with syncopated rhythms and augmented harmonies redolent of the Middle East. Thibaudet presented the love song in jewel-like tones and crafted moments of iridescent beauty as the spell continued. There were subtle hints of fauna (frogs, crickets) along the banks of the Nile in staccato figures and impressionistic effects by piano and orchestra near the end. The Molto Allegro finale, which may be viewed as to a happy return to the Champs-lyses, made a sparkling contrast to the exoticisms of the Andante. Here, Thibaudet showed that
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Music in Cincinnati Thibaudet, Denve Say It in French with the CSO

he can make the keys smoke as well as sparkle, as he drove with blazing virtuosity to the Concertos slam-bang conclusion. There was an encore -- the audience would not let Thibaudet go otherwise a small bite by Catalonian-Spanish composer Federico Mompo, Jeunes filles au jardin. Denve, who has conducted both the CSO and Cincinnati Opera in prior seasons, led with warmth, keen insight and genial command. He is obviously well liked by the players, who performed splendidly for him. To fill out this most Gallic of Gallic programs, he led Ravels Tombeau de Couperin and La Valse and Roussels Symphony No. 3. (Denve has recorded all four Roussel symphonies with the RSNO). Commissioned in celebration of the 50 th anniversary of the Boston Symphony, Roussels Third Symphony (1929) is his most popular. Neo-classic with a French accent and just 26 minutes long, it made a strong impression, from the hammered rhythms of the opening Allegro vivo, to the mock-heroic, Allegro con spirito finale. The longest movement, the Adagio, cast a romantic spell, with a lovely, angular melody that passed from woodwinds to strings. The central portion, a fugue, built to a pair of huge climaxes that trailed off to end sweetly on a high note by concertmaster Timothy Lees. The Scherzo, a brief (three-minute) barrel of fun, led into the jaunty finale, where Lees again soloed handily, before it all came crashing down, with three huge percussion-laced blasts by the orchestra. Two views of war, both by Ravel, framed the concert. Le tombeau de Couperin, a tribute to four friends who perished in the Great War (World War I), was exquisitely shaped and colored by Denve. The Prelude was soft, gentle and bubbly; the Forlane, subtly nuanced. Principal oboist Dwight Parry shone in the nostalgic Menuet, and the Rigaudon was by turns, boisterous and touching. He closed with La Valse, Ravels bitter elegy to the age of empire and excess. Denve poured himself into it, leaving no nerve untouched, from the nearly inaudible rumbles of double bass at the beginning, through lavish swaths of color as the dance unfolded, to the great, stumbling convulsions at the end. He looked exhausted as he accepted the crowds applause and that of the orchestra, which refused to stand at the final curtain call, granting him a well-deserved solo bow. The concert (highly recommended) repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Music Hall. Tickets, beginning at $10, available at the CSO website www.cincinnatisymphony.org or call (513) 381-3300.

Copyright 2012 by Music in Cincinnati

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