| A letter (4)
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| You are very satisfied with yourself, even a bit proud, and... the day after, someone proves to you that you are completely wrong ! That's life. The identity of the person who received this letter was found by : (who has now published his second biography of Ravel: Ravel a life),
He writes (I am translating, so don't think the mispellings are his):
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"I agree that the concert took place on the 3rd of
February, and that it was that of the Société nationale
de musique. According to Duchesneau, the concert in the Salle Pleyel
was composed of :
Jongen, Sonate
en ré; Coindreau, Trio; Raoul
Bardac, Trois mélodies (Si
la plage penche, Perles, L'Air), sung by
Mme Russel [sic]; Séverac, En Languedoc -
first perfomance by Blanche Selva.
Therefore, there is no doubt, I think, that the letter were addressed to Raoul Bardac, whose mother, the divine Emma, as a singer, had certainly advice to give about the tempi. Besides the mention of Séverac is all the more fitting. [...] Stays a little mystery "We have repeated only once". The program, according to Duchesneau, is not giving any pianist for the melodies (Jongen plays himself the piano part of his Sonate; Selva plays in the Trio). It is not impossible that Ravel could be the accompanist - but certainly the one I would have chosen among all the pianists in Paris ! Another possibility is that Ravel had watched over another pianist's efforts. I hope that you will find this explanation convincing..." |
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| It is doubtlessly convincing ! That's what comes of not having one's Duschesneau in one's bag... Finally, I must confess that Manuel Cornejo was the one who revealed me that this letter was not, as I had been told, unpublished. It had been published by Michel Delahayein the Cahiers Maurice Ravel (n°11, 2008, p. 69-70). May that be a lesson to you. And to me. |
David Lamaze
Le Cygne de Ravel ~ Le Coeur de l'horloge
Le Cygne de Ravel ~ Le Coeur de l'horloge