French piano music not Ravel or Debussy

Started by XB-70 Valkyrie, January 26, 2019, 06:39:47 PM

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Florestan

Quote from: Jo498 on January 27, 2019, 11:35:41 AM
o.k., so I'll recommend Albeniz, Granados, Turina and the other Spanish piano music that is historically and stylistically not that far from some of Debussy's and Ravel's.

Mompou, brother, don't forget Mompou!
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Madiel

Faure.  Faure is heaven.

And this set is good.

[asin]B00ITYHCEG[/asin]

Best pieces of Faure's are arguably the middle-period works like the 6th and 7th Nocturnes, and the 5th Barcarolle.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

amw

Some other recordings not yet mentioned:
























Mandryka

#23
The truth is that I don't much care for French music which isn't modernist, in the tradition of Messiaen etudes — Barraque —- Boulez. But when I think of contemporary French piano music it's all very superficial IMO, what a friend of mine used to call coffee table music, just colourful sounds, delightful to just let wash over you for a short time, but no deep inner life.

Anyway, here are some delightful but totally superficial French piano music CDs, Third pressing Debussy, not that I want to cast aspersions on the people who rate this stuff.



(maybe a cut above the rest, maybe not.)



Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

amw

Tristan Murail's Territoires de l'oubli is an unalloyed masterpiece (there may be other recordings that are better though, I don't know). I don't particularly rate the rest of his output but it's good listening imo.

ritter

Quote from: amw on January 28, 2019, 01:59:45 AM
Tristan Murail's Territoires de l'oubli is an unalloyed masterpiece (there may be other recordings that are better though, I don't know). I don't particularly rate the rest of his output but it's good listening imo.
Agreed. I was lucky enough to hear the piece I concert some 4 years ago, played by its dedicatee, none other than composer-pianist Michaël Lévinas. It made a great impression (well, the whole program was superb: LvB's sonatas op. 27 no. 2 and op. 111 in the first part, and Lévinas's own Three Études followed by Territoires de l'oubli in the second).

North Star

Quote from: ritter on January 28, 2019, 02:12:50 AM
Agreed. I was lucky enough to hear the piece I concert some 4 years ago, played by its dedicatee, none other than composer-pianist Michaël Lévinas. It made a great impression (well, the whole program was superb: LvB's sonatas op. 27 no. 2 and op. 111 in the first part, and Lévinas's own Three Études followed by Territoires de l'oubli in the second).
Now that sounds like a great recital. Good day, Rafael!
My impression of Murail's piano music aligns with that of you and amw.

I would be wary of thinking that music with colourful sounds is more superficial than music with colourless sounds (ok that's not really a thing, but less colourful sounds). But I should probably explore some of the things mentioned in this thread that I don't know already. Maybe that will change my mind.  :laugh:
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

ritter


amw

I'm always disappointed Michaël Lévinas hasn't recorded more—and that what he has recorded is mostly standard rep (Beethoven piano sonatas, Schumann, Schubert, Scriabin, Debussy, the WTC, etc—plus some of his own music and Ligeti). Setting down some of his modern repertoire in the 1990s-2000s would have been great, especially since he's now approaching the age of pianistic diminishing returns.

ritter

Quote from: amw on January 28, 2019, 04:41:26 AM
I'm always disappointed Michaël Lévinas hasn't recorded more—and that what he has recorded is mostly standard rep (Beethoven piano sonatas, Schumann, Schubert, Scriabin, Debussy, the WTC, etc—plus some of his own music and Ligeti). Setting down some of his modern repertoire in the 1990s-2000s would have been great, especially since he's now approaching the age of pianistic diminishing returns.
Yes, it is a real pity he hasn't recorded more, because what we do have by him is usually of very high quality. And he's a very friendly person (I had the chance to chat with him at length after that concert).

aukhawk

Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on January 26, 2019, 08:45:48 PM
Great ideas there, thanks. I had no idea about the Piaf! This also reminds me of my Aldo Ciccolini set of the complete Erik Satie--a very nice addition to any collection. I do also have the Messiaen Vingt Regards played by Michel Beroff, although I have not progressed past the first six or eight--need to revisit that one.

If you have difficulty with Messiaen I recommend approaching via his Preludes with are early pieces and quite Debussy-esque.  Angela Hewitt, maybe.



Then, some of his Oiseaux are easier listening than others - I especially like L'Alouette Lulu (Wood Lark) and Le Courlis Cendre (Curlew) and think Momo Kodama plays this music beautifully, among many others of course.


SonicMan46

This morning, I left the post below in the listening thread and received no responses - so found this short discussion of 'French Piano Music' other than the usual suspects - any comments concerning my questions would be appreciated.  Thanks - Dave :)

QuoteChabrier, Emmanuel (1841-1894) - Orchestral & Piano Music - currently own the first 3 discs below, and listening to the 1965 recordings on Vox by Rena Kyriakou (1917-1994) on Spotify.  The orchestral works are from the late 1950s, but are remastered 'Mercury Living Presence' recordings (also now available on SACD) - the sound is just fabulous (believe this replaced a Gardiner CD that I had in the past) - a keeper for me unless some strong recommendations emerge?

The solo/duet piano works are special w/ Chabrier's idiom - auditioned selections from both Hewitt & Stott this morning (mainly 'Pieces pittoresques') and still liked both w/ Stott being a bit more robust, however, these have received some 'mixed' reviews - see attached PDF, if interested.  BUT, this afternoon now listening (on headphones) to the 55 year old recordings of Kyriakou and believe that I like these the most; Vox has done an excellent remastering, i.e. I hear no hiss and the dynamics are fine - maybe a replacement for me?  Dave :)

     

mjmosca

I am a big fan of Saint-Saens, and his solo piano music is vast- and full of gems, from early to late in his long career. I have found that an appreciation of Saint-Saens is a foundation for understanding the great fecundity of French music [piano and otherwise] in the late 19th and the Twentieth century. Indeed, Ravel could be considered the musical "grandson" of Saint-Saens. There is a wonderful complete set with Marylene Dosse [from the 1970's] that I continue to enjoy since it first was issued. Also, Chabrier is another composer that I would suggest is worth repeated listening. thank you.

Mandryka

#34
Quote from: amw on January 28, 2019, 01:59:45 AM
Tristan Murail's Territoires de l'oubli is an unalloyed masterpiece  (there may be other recordings that are better [than Nonken] though, I don't know)

There is indeed a good one, played by Dominique My, quite astonishing the colours, hard to believe she's playing a regular piano in fact. An eye opener for me, and I can see why you're so enthisuastic about the music now, I'm going to have to explore more by this pianist, the Murail is here

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen