This album is Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth’s third album of Ravel’s music played on period French instruments. The fully orchestrated Pictures at an Exhibition is heard in the new Ravel Edition, commissioned in part by Les Siècles, and a stunning, live La Valse serves as its foil. As in their previous recordings, Les Siècles’ playing is muscular and profoundly adept, and attuned to the possibilities of Ravel’s orchestration.
Not many groups have recorded Pictures at an Exhibition with period instruments. Previously, the most notable version was that of Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna, a richly colored, endearing, if sometimes slightly awkward performance. Just the opening phrase of the two versions is enough to communicate an hour’s worth of interpretational difference: if Anima Eterna’s metaphorical gallery is more nuanced, full of complex textures that the best art students would struggle to sketch, then Les Siècles’ hides nothing, but expertly magnifies what Ravel has already written. Listen to the clarity of Les Siècles’ Gnomus (track 2); how the music’s shadows are perfectly rendered, how the glissandi are measured and brought to the fore; a rather idealized gnome. Anima Eterna’s gnome is less clean-shaven, but no less rewarding to listen to.
In some of the darker pictures, for my taste, Les Siècles’ playing lacks color. Their Bydlo (track 7) doesn’t lumber so much as glide (though perhaps they’re playing with the idea of wheels on a cart), and while their Old Castle is perfectly fine, it pales in comparison to Anima Eterna’s, which evokes a distinctly medieval, vocal timbre. The Catacombs is particularly tricky, requiring both murkiness and space, and Les Siècles haven’t quite managed it here. On the other hand, their playing in the lighter numbers is splendid, like in the Ballet of the Chicks, where a slightly heavy tempo and the varied, warm colors of the period winds really do evoke a crowded ballet stage. You can just about see hundreds of little feet on tip-toe. Roth again makes the right choice in the Markets, where a quicker tempo gives a true sense of a crowded market, with faces appearing and dissolving.
Related Classical Music Reviews
- Review: “Escales” – Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
- Review: Fauré – Requiem, Poulenc – Figure Humaine, Les Siècles, Ensemble Aedes, Romano
- Review: Mahler – Symphony No. 1 (“Titan”) – Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
The piece ends with two show-stoppers: Baba-Yaga is as terrifying as it’s ever been, and its slower B section is creepily delicate. The Great Gate of Kiev has all the bombast and blinding sheen you could want. The only two revisions I noticed in this new edition appeared at the end of Kiev, one an immediately evident rhythmic attenuation to the downward scales that lead to the final section, and the other a rather subtle Eb pedal-point held through the final bars that adds just a bit of crunch to an otherwise clean G-minor chord.
Though La Valse follows Pictures on the album, it’s more than a “bonus” track; this reading may well be the best on record. There is no coyness; the intermingled elegance, sarcasm, and vitriol present in Ravel’s writing come directly to the fore. Delightful glissandi play a central role (e.g. 1’50”, 4’10”, or 6’10”), at first providing grace but quickly becoming distorted by Ravel’s harmonies. The tempos are everything you never knew you wanted in La Valse, exaggerated meno mosso’s (6’15”) and premature prestos (from Ravel’s perspective, at least – 9’42”). Phrasing is eccentric yet precise – the entire orchestra is involved in making each, giant gesture (3’40”). Unlike many other versions, the orchestra feels nimble, and the sound quality is not muddied by Ravel’s complex orchestration. One thing this recording could be accused of lacking is a sense of organic growth. Dutoit’s 1982 version with Montreal captures that most clearly, notably slowing the tempo for the theme’s introduction. Dutoit’s is also expertly balanced, and comes in a close second to this recording, but modern audio engineering and a heightened artistic flair from Les Siècles are impossible to knock. The sense of growth wouldn’t work for this version in any case; it’s far too well thought-out to feel spontaneous.
This album is full of musical joy, both serious and humorous. La Valse alone would highly recommend it, but the performance of Pictures elevates it to required listening.
Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Ravel)
Ravel – La Valse
Les Siècles
François-Xavier Roth – Conductor
Harmonia Mundi, CD HMM 905282
Albums Mentioned In This Review
Read more classical music reviews or visit The Classic Review Amazon store
Follow Us and Comment:
Get our periodic classical music newsletter with our recent reviews, news and beginners guides.
We respect your privacy.
