NOSPR / Koncz / Stalmachowska - NOSPR

In Alborada del gracioso (The Jester’s Aubade), Ravel’s impressionistic sense of ‘clockwork’ precision reaches its peak. The suite delights with its refined orchestration and balanced colour proportions as it captivates with striking clarity of form and simplicity of musical message. From his 1905 piano cycle Miroirs (Mirrors), the composer chose to orchestrate only two movements. He dedicated Alborada... to Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi, a music critic and his fellow member of the French avant-garde artist group Les Apaches.

While the title of Ravel’s work poses certain translatory challenges (the Spanish word alborada carries multiple meanings, though it is often interpreted as a ‘dawn’ or ‘morning song’, hence the Polish Poranna pieśń błazna and the aforementioned English equivalent), there is no such ambiguity with Été (Summer), the first of Gotthard Odermatt’s Trois images pour hautbois et orchestra (Three Pictures for Oboe and Orchestra), Op 18. The piece indeed evokes the eponymous summer – gentle, serene, and warm. Odermatt is a contemporary composer born in Lucerne and professionally active in Zurich, but his aesthetic and artistry draw on a style and sensitivity surprisingly close to impressionism.

It is therefore fitting that Debussy, who concludes the set list, provides an ideal final flourish. His Nocturnes – the earliest work in this concert since it was composed in the final decade of the 19th century – offers a fascinating sonic interpretation of Poèmes anciens et romanesques (Old and Romantic Poems) by the French Symbolist Henri de Régnier. The musical language is thoroughly modern here, while the spirit remains unmistakably Romantic.

Maria Wilczek-Krupa