Emmanuel Despax

Ravel, Fauré/Despax, Despax Emmanul Despax (piano). Bechstein Hall, London, 07.03.2025

Ravel   Miroirs, M. 43 (1904/5) 

Despax  The Sound of Music Fantasy (2020) 

Fauré   Mélodies, Op. 7: Après un rêve (arr. Despax) 

Ravel   Gaspard de la nuit, M 55 (1908) 

Joseph Maurice Ravel was born on March 7, 1875, so this concert y Emmanuel Despax marked his 150th birth anniversary to this day; across the Channel, Bertrand Chamayou performed the complete works at Paris’ Philharmonie (that concert is available on both medici.tv and Mezzo). Despax offered two major pieces, a sandwich filled with his own Sound of Music Fantasy, and his own arrangement of a Fauré song. 

He setting was Bechstein Hall, a 98-seat performance space just a couple of doors down from the Wigmore that tries so hard to be achingly cool. No programmes, only digital (and displayed on the wall displays for most of the time) The request to be respectful with digital devices comes from a recorded video message that feels like a Harry Potter speaking portrait. The sound is somewhat dry (when Despax play single-line staccato, from close-up it felt too dry); but the sound of the piano does not overwhelm the listener, surprisingly. 

Miroirs was the first offering, a five-movement suite first performed by Rccardo Vińes in 1906. Despax presented the opening 'Noctuelles’ (Night Moths) as marvelously flighty, and with a nicely warm sound on the provided Bechstein. Clarity was all: this was no pedal-wash Impressionism, and Despax gave Ravel his own individual soundworld, solar systems away from Debussy. Perhaps there was a touch of settling in in this first movement, for the true magic began with ’Oiseax tristes’ (Sad Birds), where (legato) single lines spoke volumes, where textures were perfectly striated, each with its own touch (this movement, incidentally, is dedicated to Viñes; each movement has a different dedicatee).  

The markings of the first two movements are ‘very light’ and ’very slow,’ respectively in French, obviously). For ’Une barque sur l’océan,’ (A Boat on the Ocean), the marking is ‘D'un rythm e souple,’ beautifully realised by Despax (as were the high trills, an absolute joy each time, so even). That suppleness was the movement’s defining factor, perhaps to put the next into relief, the infectious Spanish dance rhythms of ‘Alborada del grazioso’ (The Jester’s Aubade). Occasionally the techinical dfficulty of Ravel's writing did feel audible, but the split was undeniable. The final “La vallée des cloches’ is another study in voicing and layering, masterly done by Despax, the bells evident (without over-projection). A superb close to a fin account. 

Despax’s own fantasy on The Sound of Music is glorious. It is easy to play spot the composer, or spot the quote (so shades of Joseph Cooper’s improvisations on Face the Music). The subtitle of the work is ’Concert Paraphrase on The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and Despax had a ball writing it, clearly, and has a ball playing it, equally clearly. The piece is of limited playership (it is not easy) but it is skilled and of the amusing, especially as one tune morphs into another. ‘My favourite things’ seems to have met Scarbo; the kittens of the text have an acidic sting in their harmonies. Perhaps inevitably, Liszt certainly gets a voice here, The piece is only six and a bit minutes long but is in equal parts charming and enervating. Despax’s performance was faultless. He is one of the most sensitive players around today; his enormous, fearless technique sems almost an afterthought. 

Here's Despax on video playing this (NB this is not the Bechstein Hall performance):

The second half brought Despax’s arrangement of Fauré's twilit ‘Après un rêve' (from the set of three mélodies, Op. 7). It is the little details that mater: the accompanying chords were so carefully placed they made the perfect bed for Fauré's melody (which itself is surely a download from Heaven). Here's the Signum recording of that piece:

It was the perfect slide-in to Ravel’s Gaspard. Here, technique and a sure feeling for Ravel’s music met in fine fashion. The marking for ’Ondine’ might be ’Lent' (slow) but plenty goes on. Despax referred to this as a ’symphonic work for piano’ in his spoken introduction, and so it was. This was Despax the colourist, giving an ‘Ondine’ of a multiplicity of pastels. The spooky ’Le Gibet’ (Très lent, now) was not just an interior meditation on a swinging corpse, but its repeated tolling bell took us right back to that of Miroirs. Keeping the dynamic even only added to a sense of dream, or, perhaps better, suspended nightmare. And finally, one of the most difficult pieces in the repertoire: ‘Scarbo’. The marking might be a non-scary 'Modéré,' but the writing certainly is. Despax’s left hand was so even; the opening gestures made their mark; even the overwhelming climax was not uncomfortable in decibel levels. Everything perfectly judged. Just some of the fast note repetitions seemed less even than on his recording (Signum); but the waves of sound certainly made their mark. 

One encore, the lovely Pavane pour une infante défunte (M. 19, 1899). A nice idea to begin he evening at 6pm; an 8pm finish seems perfect. Despax remains a voice of musicality and sanity in the musical world; a truly satisfying recital. 

We have featured much Despax at Classical Explorer previously: most presciently, his disc, Après un rêve (both disc and Wigmore Hall concert in one post), but also The Sound of Music Fantasy. There is however a lot more: his solo Liszt disc, his amazing Brahms First Concerto, the chamber versions of the Chopin Concertos, ad his remarkable disc of virtuoso Bach transcriptions, Spira, Spera (all Signum). Enjoy!