The legendary alto saxophonist Paul Desmond once likened his distinctive tone on the instrument to that of a dry martini. That precise image consistently came to mind as I listened to Philippe Bianconi’s new Ravel cycle. His highly articulated symmetrical style relates to etchings rather than to oil canvases, emphasizing line over mass, clarity over color. Those who want alluring half-tints in Miroirs, dark drama in Gaspard de la nuit, and the charm of old Vienna in Valses nobles et sentimentales will have to look elsewhere.
In essence, Bianconi’s Ravel follows in the footsteps of Marguerite Long, Robert Casadesus, Jean Doyen, and other purveyors of the French School at its height. Emphatic accents and attentive voice leading imparts a sparkling and often stimulating edge to the textures, reinforcing the cross-rhythmic profile in the Sonatine’s central movement, the Menuet antique, and Alborada del grazioso, while also yielding notey and immobile results in Jeux d’eau and Une barque sur l’océan.
Given the sheer honesty and finish of Bianconi’s technique, he has no need to cover up anything with blurry pedaling or “emergency” rubato. If anything, Bianconi’s workmanship proves more refined here compared to his slightly looser, more communicative live 2007 Ravel cycle on Lyrinx, a release that’s long out of print and almost impossible to source. Clément Lefebvre joins Bianconi for a reading of the Mother Goose Suite that is overly loud and lacking in delicacy compared to Emanuel and Yoko Ax (RCA) or the Kontarsky brothers (DG). As always, La Dolce Volta provides excellent sonics and a lavish multi-language booklet.
