André Mathieu, a Canadian composer from the first half of the twentieth century, lived less than 40 years and only output a small number of works, most of which Alain Lefèvre has championed. The fourth concerto has an unusual history: the manuscipt was lost, so the entire work was transcribed by ear from an early recording on lacquer records. Lefèvre premiered the reconstructed work with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in May 2008.
The piano concerto is a great work in it's own right. It's exciting, engaging, and you'll probably find yourself humming some of it's themes for the rest of the day after listening. The style is perhaps similar to Rachmaninov with some Ravel thrown in. The rest of the CD is also great and, if I must draw comparisons, has moments reminiscent of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Scènes de Ballet is at times quite pastoral with some "movie music" moments; it really shows off the sensitive playing of concertmaster Steven Moeckel. The CD finishes up with four songs in beautifully romantic chorus and orchestra settings.
The quality of the performances are great. Alain Lefèvre is, without a doubt, a world-class performer. Don't let a recording by a regional American orchestra scare you! While my fellow Tucsonans can attest to the great performaces we hear from the Tucson Symphony every week, I'll remind the rest of my readership that the musicians in tomorrow's big-city world-class orchestras are already making amazing music all around the country in today's regional orchestras.
Why would you want to listen to a CD full of music by a composer who, until now, you've probably never heard of? Maybe that's precisely why you should! I'm not suggesting you stop listening to Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, et al., but take a chance on the obscure. You won't regret it.
