LDV122

28 CHAUSSON, RAVEL ∙ TRIOS FOR PIANO, VIOLIN AND CELLO Let’s take the first movement, Modéré. How do you render the mysterious flow, the feigned naivety that runs through it? Nathan Mierdl: Ideally, yes, it should seem naïve . . . And you have to work on this music with the greatest humility. Laure-Hélène Michel: Is it possible to disregard the period of composition? We’re at the very beginning of the Great War here, and Ravel tried to enlist several times. Did he not think of this composition as probably the last of his life, as a moment of respite before battle? Victor Metral: The more you study and perform it, the more you realise how dense this music is. The difficulty lies in preserving its simplicity and its almost dance- like character. You have to bring out the leading voices, the main theme that moves from one instrument to another and is metamorphosed without the listener noticing. Ravel does his best to conceal it, and only close analysis can rescue us from the traps that the composer sets for us. As for the piano writing . . . In some passages – I’m thinking of the Pantoum and the Final – it’s worthy of Scarbo in Gaspard de la nuit ! Laure-Hélène Michel: This is one of the most orchestral trios in all chamber music. Some passages produce the illusion of an orchestral mass, yet there are only the three of us on stage!