Alain Lefèvre is a stylish pianist, and in these three live performances he offers plenty to tickle the ear. André Mathieu’s Rhapsodie Romantique is a tuneful mix of Rachmaninov, Debussy, Ravel, and Gershwin. Nothing not to like, right? Happily it’s also jam-packed with attractive melodies, and as this is effectively the work’s premiere, there’s no competition, nor does there need to be: the performance sounds terrific. So if you’re a fan of, say, Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand or Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody, you’re really going to like this piece. The audience certainly did, but although the engineering is flattering to the artists and well balanced, I do wish the applause had been edited out.
Gershwin’s Rhapsody also sounds lovely. Lefèvre likes to take his time and let the melodies unfold with plenty of rubato. As a result the music loses a bit of its inherent brashness and swagger; but it has plenty of sex appeal, and the orchestra plays with gusto. The Rachmaninov is less happy. Some of the tempos are unusually slow (Variation 6), and while fascinating, the want of momentum begins to tell. This is particularly serious in the closing pages which, after a very pretty Eighteenth Variation, simply lack the necessary contrasting brilliance. Still, the real novelty here is the Mathieu, and the disc asks to be judged as an entire program. From this perspective it’s quite successful and works very well. The three works are all recognizably personal, yet are related in their aesthetics and listener appeal. That earns this release an easy recommendation.
