Jean Cras - Orchestral Works (Jean-François Antonioli)

Information

Composer: Jean Cras

CD1:

• (01) Journal de bord
• (04) Âmes d'enfants

CD2:

• (01) Légende, for cello and orchestra
• (02) Piano Concerto

Henri Demarquette, cello

Alain Jacquon, piano

Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg

Jean-François Antonioli, conductor

Date: 1996/2013

Label: Timpani

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Review

Journal de Bord (Ship's Log) is in three movements representing the three watches on board ship: I Quart de 8 à minuit; II Quart de minuit à 4; III Quart de 4 à 8. It was written on board 'La Provence' This is a very fine work struck from an imagination (all his own) but cut from the same character-cloth as Uuno Klami's Sea-Pictures (Klami, Finnish though he was, is, in many of his works, amongst the most Gallic-spirited of composers - try also his piano concertos), Bax's Tintagel and Aubert's staggeringly original sea-picture Le Tombeau de Chateaubriand.

Cras's is a bronzen foundry of the waves - at some junctures paralleling La Mer. In the middle movement the moon seems to dance subtly on the waves. The last movement is breezy and up-beat. All in all, a rich effluorescent tapestry like Bax's Spring Fire blended with Dukas's La Péri (in itself an uncannily Baxian piece).

The Âmes d'enfants (Children's Souls) is an attempt to express the spirit of children. The work is dedicated to his three daughters: Isaure, Colette and Monique. The first movement (Pures) is a fervent romantic slow meditation much dominated by the strings and featuring a most memorable theme which reminds me of another which, infuriatingly, I cannot quite place (can anyone help?). The middle movement (Naïves) is light-spirited and playful - sounding like one of Sibelius's Musette movements. The finale (Mystérieuses) winds in with what you can think of as a quicker version of the famous theme from Grieg's Morning (Peer Gynt). Its quiet, contemplative insistence and repetition creates the tranced effect of a shimmering horizon. While the ending, which gathers for a fanfare, is satisfying enough it seems a pity that Cras did not grasp the nettle completely and allow the music to play out in an idyllic sunset of trembling strings. In any event, how typical of a Celt to lay out the movements on a slow-fast-slow basis (remember the Moeran and Delius violin concertos).

It seems that the Légende was not intended to follow the storyline of any particular legend. Rather the plan is to capture the poetic atmosphere of the Breton legends of Charles le Goffic, Anatole be Braz and Gustave Toudouze. Several episodes are quite Baxian; indeed, generally, this piece struck me as a character echo of Arnold Bax's Phantasy for viola and orchestra. It has that same element of folksiness (though thankfully not a hint of the cute or the quaint - neither quality is present in the Bax), a warrior's demeanour, as well as that aspiration towards evanescent beauty. An extremely romantic piece its solidity is quite unimpressionistic in effect.

Grand flourishes by the piano and the answering orchestra (mainly the brass) make up the first gestures of the concerto. The work seems to proceed in 'awkward' idea-blocks. It is quite different from the Légende - at once more arresting and of serious mien yet splendid in an out-flowering of display to be found also in the five Saint-Saens piano concertos. There is a darkly reflective meander of a central movement - a typically Celtic night-scene. The finale's 'call to arms' is in the form of a rapid light-tongued fanfare touched with sea and a pastoral contentment which has not lost sight and sound of the dance. The work, oddly enough, served to call up memories of catchy Portuguese folk dances as in the orchestral music of Joly Braga Santos and Luis de Freitas Branco. If you appreciate Fauré's Ballade for piano and orchestra you will want to hear this excellent work.

As with all three Timpanis the notes are by Michel Fleury who has done so much, through his writings and promotion, to bring about a revival in the fortunes of many French composers - especially the Bretons.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

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Jean Cras (22 May 1879 – 14 September 1932) was a 20th-century French composer and career naval officer.  As a naval commander he served with distinction in the Adriatic Campaign during World War I. Though Cras's duties in the French navy left him little time to devote to his musical work, he composed throughout his life, mainly writing chamber music and songs. His musical compositions were inspired by his native Brittany, his travels to Africa, and most of all, by his sea voyages. His daughter, Colette Cras, is a concert pianist and married the Polish-French composer Alexandre Tansman.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Cras

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Jean-François Antonioli (born February 25, 1959 in Lausanne) is a Swiss pianist, conductor and piano pedagogue. He studied piano at Conservatoire de Lausanne and Conservatoire de Paris, with Pierre Sancan, Carlo Zecchi and Bruno Seidlhofer. Antonioli has performed solo or with orchestra in many musical centres in Europe, North America, Asia, and has recorded more than 20 CDs. His most famous recording are works of Claude Debussy, Ferruccio Busoni, Joachim Raff and Arthur Honegger. He holds position of the Head of the Piano department at the Conservatoire de Lausanne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Antonioli

http://www.jfantonioli.ch/

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