LDV109

23 PHILIPPE BIANCONI Where does that lyricism come from? At first glance, his very meticulous writing calls for a kind of perfection, of supreme precision in performance. Everything is very clear, perfectly in place. When I was young, I was keen to polish the sound, the tone colour. In those days, I hadn’t grasped just how integral lyricism is to his output. Ravel doesn’t let the lyrical element spring up spontaneously, yet he doesn’t curb it either. He goes to look for it deep inside himself, but he doesn’t present it unmediated: he moulds it with care, outlining the curves with precision and accuracy. His surging phrases are at once deeply sincere and extremely controlled in their writing. In the Valses nobles et sentimentales , you get this lyricism even in the slowest waltzes, the second one especially, the sort of perfectly moulded phrasing also found in the melody of Ondine , completely different though it is. The performer is on a knife-edge: he or she has to find the delicate balance between expressiveness, naturalness and elegance. And if there is one piece by Ravel where elegance is essential, it’s certainly the Valses nobles et sentimentales ! They follow one another, forming, despite their contrasts, a work of great unity. The seventh prefigures La Valse and the last one is a dream, an oneiric marvel: we have the impression we are half asleep, as visions float to the surface of consciousness, like Proustian reminiscences.