Roussel: Le Festin d'Araignée, Fragments Symphoniques - Debussy: Jeux

Roussel's ballet Le Festin d'Araignée was premiered in april 1913, barely a month before Debussy's Jeux. I have just one recording of the fragments symphoniques (not the full ballet) in my collection: a live 1974 radio recording of the Concertgebouw Orchestra led by Haitink. It's a charming work, with the poise, delicacy and clarity of line so typical for this composer. Le Festin is scored for a very classic ('Mannheim') orchestra (with added harp and some percussion). However, the work predates Bacchus et Ariane by almost 20 years and can still be considered 'early Roussel' (only his post-war Second Symphony would herald his mature style). The influence of Debussy is very obvious throughout but we can also hear a sniff of Ravel (Rhapsodie Espagnole, Ma Mère L'Oye (premiered a year earlier)), a whiff of Wagner (Siegfried Idyll) and a hint of Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker). The music that accompanies the 'Hatching of the Mayfly' (L'Eclosion de l'Ephemère'), a broad and mysterious theme for the strings punctured with questioning motifs in the winds, even reminded me of Dvorak in his most wistful moments (we know for a fact that the Bohemian connection ran in the opposite direction as Roussel, from 1923 onwards up to his death in 1937, taught and coached Bohuslav Martinu). Haitink's performance of Roussel's ballet-pantomime is serviceable, maybe even good, but it's not great. I have the feeling there is more to be drawn from this music.

The 14-CD set with Haitink radio recordings also contains a 1967 reading of Debussy's Jeux and this struck me as very accomplished. In its consummate combination of atmosphere and athleticism it maybe even surpasses his later studio recording. Jeux is a work that continues to startle me with its kaleidoscopic richness. As a listener one can only yield and drift along with the momentary changing moods and dynamics. I will certainly return to this recording.

I followed up with a 1994 Jeux by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (recently re-issued as part of a bargain-priced 5CD box with Virgin recordings). It's two minutes faster than Haitink and to me it sounds curiously anemic. The indifferent digital sound doesn't help. Jeux has to be perfectly moulded and played. If not, it quickly bores and that is what happened to me when I listened to this recording.

Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Suite n° 2

I'm listening a little further afield in turn-of-the-century French music. Although the very first pages of Roussel's second Bacchus et Ariane suite connect rather well with the soundworld of Debussy's Martyre, they already date from the early 1930s, however. The influence of Stravinsky and Les Six becomes much more apparent once Ariadne has been raised from her slumber and the more energetic dealings with Bacchus and his crowd get under way. I listened to three different versions of the suite and as so often they made for very different listening experiences.

The Chandos recording made by Neeme Järvi at the beginning of his tenure with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (early 1990s) sounded bloated and uninvolving. The sparkle that characterised the orchestra's recordings of French repertoire under Paul Paray in the 1950s seemed to have all but gone. Then Stéphane Deneve with the Scottish National Orchestra on Naxos. His series of  recordings of Roussel's orchestral works has been critically acclaimed. This CD features the Third Symphony and the two Bacchus suites. Compared to the Järvi, the performance sounds more thought-through and more sophisticated. A nice bonus is that the different sections of the ballet are separately cued so that it is easy to relisten specific episodes. Despite the obvious qualities of the recording I had the persistent feeling that the orchestra was not with its heart in the music. Deneve skillfully guides us through a colourful storybook, spotlighting many of the orchestral felicities, but ultimately fails to really engage us.  In the frenzied finale the orchestra seems to go on autopilot. The recording sounds rather cavernous, with the brass ostensibly sitting miles behind the string section. So, I have mixed feelings about this one.

Markevitch and his Lamoureux Orchestra, taped by DGG engineers in 1960, eat these two CDs for breakfast however. It's one of these cheap Resonance pressings but it sounds truly awesome. The recording is admittedly a little dry and airless (I can't detect almost no ambient atmosphere) but that is compensated by the terrific liveliness of the playing. It's as if one is sitting on the concertmaster's lap, so close and realistic is the sound of all the orchestra groups: the barking horns, the swirling winds, the double basses sharp as daggers, the clattering timpani. Listening to this recording one easily forgets the ballet story. It's just a blazing piece of absolute music with the angular and vibrant energy of a Matisse painting. Markevitch keeps an iron hand on the proceedings, nicely moulding the ebb and flow and propelling the Lamoureux to a Dyonisiac finale. Great stuff, no doubt about it.