A French feast for the ears from Stéphane Denève and the New World Symphony

This all-French concert by the New World Symphony under the direction of its recently appointed Music Director, Stéphane Denève, featured an A-list quartet of compositions that was particularly welcome in that none are part of the “classical hit parade”; nary a La Mer, Boléro or La Valse was to be found.

To begin the concert, NWS conducting fellow Molly Turner led the orchestra in Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso. This Spanish-inflected number isn’t programmed very often, but it’s as infectious as other Ravel works, and it was played well here. Denève then stepped to the podium to lead the rarely performed complete score to Albert Roussel’s 1912 ballet Le Festin l’arraignéee (The Spider's Feast). This impressionistic work may not be all that representative of Roussel’s rhythmically incisive mature style, but it is a masterpiece of watercolor-like sonorities, which came across beautifully in gossamer woodwind passages and ethereal string playing by the NWS musicians.

The storyline is rather gruesome in spots, as it chronicles a day in the life of a spider and its interactions with various insects in the garden (spoiler alert: some don’t survive). In today’s performance, the story was conveyed through the animations of Grégoire Pont, a French illustrator who specializes in “cinesthetic” treatments of ballet and operatic works. The use of Pont’s subtitle-like didascalies to help present the story was a masterstroke in that audience members could use their own imaginations to augment the visuals. Premiered here, the animations resulted in an engaging experience that built on the foundation of the music – a success! 

Following intermission, the program shifted to the turn-of-the-century French fascination with “all things oriental”. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard joined Denève and the New World players to present an exquisite rendition of Shéhérazade, Ravel’s 1904 song cycle of Tristan Klingsor’s verse (very) loosely based on the tales from The Arabian Nights. Leonard’s rich, dark timbre is perfectly suited to the music, which begins with Asie and its “travelogue” of sights and sounds of the East. A feeling of suspended animation permeated La Flûte enchantée, while the concluding L’Indifférent was lusciously sung. In Leonard’s conception, every word had musical meaning – and as the last notes died away, it was clear to everyone that something very moving had just been experienced.

Denève chose as the program’s final offering Florent Schmitt’s ballet La Tragédie de Salomé, composed in 1907 and revised/rescored for large orchestra in 1910. It is a particular specialty of this conductor, who has led the work in concert with numerous orchestras over the past two decades. His approach emphasizes the dramatic, while also serving up beautiful tone painting in the opening Prélude evoking dusk on the terrace of King Herod’s palace. Inspired by Schmitt’s oriental themes, ravishing NWS English horn and oboe solos in the aforementioned prelude and in Les Enchantments sur la mer transported us from Parisian drawing rooms straight to the banks of the Dead Sea. 

Also notable was Denève’s treatment of the Danse des perles, which, for giddy excitement, offered more than most other performances deliver. Lastly, the jagged rhythms of Danse des éclairs and Danse de l’effroi were ferociously punctuated, serving to remind us how anticipatory the final pages of this ballet were of Stravinsky’s Sacre du printemps that came just a few years later. For sheer drama, one couldn’t ask for a more exciting concert ending – and the New World musicians were with the conductor every step of the way.