Page 442 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

rather fatuous plot and consider that the games Debussy had in mind were more
overtly sexual than the coyness implied by the metaphor of a tennis match a

trois that this music is meant to depict. It might be more appropriate to say that
what Debussy is captivated with in this score is the sensual, perhaps even sexual,
delights of music itself. Formally it is a tour de force, virtually dispensing with
conventional musical structures in favour of a kind of organic evolution that
invents its own logic. Like those last three sonatas, this can leave the listener with
little to get to grips with at first listen. It almost seems to have too much music to
paraphrase an Emperor’s advice to Mozart!

Lately, this elusive work has been very popular in the studio with results ranging
from the highly convincing to the not terribly so. It requires a strong hand on the
tiller if it is not to descend into a disjointed series of moments. Haitink, that most
surprising and admirable of Debussy conductors, still remains the bench mark.
Like Boulez, he treats it as pure music rather than attempting to evoke the plot
for us. Hindoyan is more playful than either of those two older colleagues but he
is very clear about the line of development of the piece and doesn’t fall into the
trap of lingering too long over the magic moments. Or perhaps a better way of
putting that might be that he lingers the right amount over them but not too
much.

Roussel, on the other hand, is one of those composers who greatly benefits from
removing any concept of ‘too much’. His ballet Bacchus et Ariane is not music
from the top division it is true and needs the kind of persuasive care shown it by
Hindoyan if it is to make its mark. Big sensuous melodies end up sounding noble
and erotic frenzies wind up noisy kneesups. There is no point pretending
otherwise and Hindoyan doesn’t. What we get instead is a lively, colourful score
that makes up for a relative lack of originality with plenty of energy. Again I found
myself thinking of how enjoyable this piece would be in the concert hall and the
Onyx engineers brings us tantalisingly close to that experience. It is the kind of
recording and performance that would have me renewing my season ticket at the
Philharmonic if I lived in Liverpool.

If this disc is an accurate calling card for what is to come from Hindoyan, then it
promises thrills aplenty. There is no pretending that any of the works included

here pose any great cerebral challenges for the performers but there is time
enough to see what the young Venezuelan is like in the Central European
repertoire. In the meantime, he glitters and dazzles on this first outing with his
new band.

David McDade