Ravel: Piano Works Vanessa Wagner

• Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60
• 1I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant01:50
• 2II. Petit Poucet02:47
• 3III. Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes03:06
• 4IV. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête04:37
• 5V. Le jardin féérique03:33
• Valses nobles et sentimentales:
• 6I. Modéré01:12
• 7II. Assez lent02:18
• 8III. Modéré01:23
• 9IV. Assez animé01:04
• 10V. Presque lent00:50
• 11VI. Assez vif00:46
• 12VII. Moins vif03:26
• 13VIII. Lent05:05
• Gaspard de la Nuit, M. 55:
• 14I. Ondine06:26
• 15II. Le Gibet08:27
• 16III. Scarbo09:19
• 17Pavane pour une infante défunte07:06
• Total Runtime01:03:15

Info for Ravel: Piano Works

„Pavane pour une infante défunte“, an early work, takes us into the world of dance that perfumes the musical world of Ravel. „Gaspard de la nuit“ in the French Romantic tradition, is a triptych inspired by three of Aloysius Bertrand's prose-ballads: Ondine, the water nymph; Le Gibet (Gallows), paints a gruesome picture of „a bell tolling from the walls of a city, beneath the skyline, and the body of a hanged man, reddened by the setting sun“; Scarbo, depicts the night-time mischief of a mocking dwarf. We return to the dance with the bold‚ “Valses nobles et sentimentales“, a series of waltzes written in 1911. Finally, „Ma Mère l'Oye“ (Mother Goose), shows Ravel's affection for his childhood days. Vanessa Wagner brings out the modernity of these scores, their sudden movements of violence, their moments of ineffable sweetness. She plays with rigour, intensity and a velvet touch.

„I discovered Murcof’s music on the occasion of a screening of F. Lang’s 'Metropolis' for which he created 'live' music. I was immediately fascinated by the rich and sensual textures of his music, by the mystery, the magic that it emanated, far from all known clichés from which all music played on machines usually suffers. His vast musical culture allows him to reach beyond the tenacious frontier between closed worlds to which musicians of all persuasions often confine themselves. I wished to attempt this musical experience by adding my little stone to this edifice of curiosity and openness. We decided to meet – classical piano for me, electronic music for him – in order to rediscover, to re-play (as jazz musicians would do) composers dear to us, from Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel to Arvo Pärt, John Adams or Morton Feldman – who could all be considered as forerunners of contemporary repetitive music.“ (Vanessa Wagner)

Vanessa Wagner, piano

Vanessa Wagner
A highly individual musician, Vanessa Wagner is characterised by her sensitive and thoughtful playing, the richness of her tone colour, and her artistic choices, which prompt her to traverse the di erent repertories, from that of the fortepiano (which she plays on period instruments) to the music of our time, notably that of Pascal Dusapin and François Meïmoun, both of whom have dedicated several pieces to her. After obtaining a Premier Prix at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in Dominique Merlet’s class and a postgraduate diploma in the class of Jean-François Heisser, she entered the International Piano Academy Lake Como, where she received the guidance of such great masters as Leon Fleisher, Dmitri Bashkirov, Murray Perahia, Fou Ts’ong and Alexis Weissenberg.

Since being named ‘Solo Instrumental Discovery of the Year’ at the Victoires de la Musique in 1999, Vanessa Wagner has appeared with the leading international orchestras and conductors.

She is also a sought-after chamber music partner, and often shares the concert platform with her musician friends, notably Augustin Dumay, with whom she has a privileged partnership, the pianists Marie Vermeulin, Cédric Tiberghien and Wilhem Latchoumia, and Murcof, a renowned musician on the electro scene.

Vanessa Wagner is artistic director of the Festival de Chambord and has been appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

This album contains no booklet.