Ravel: Cantates pour le Prix de Rome Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire & Pascal Rophé

• Maurice Ravel (1873 - 1937): Alyssa, M. 38:
• 1Ravel: Alyssa, M. 38: Prélude03:29
• 2Ravel: Alyssa, M. 38: I. Elfes légers, elfes errants07:38
• 3Ravel: Alyssa, M. 38: II. Ma beauté, ma lumière06:11
• 4Ravel: Alyssa, M. 38: III. Le barde, porte-glaive !08:50
• Alcyone, M. 34:
• 5Ravel: Alcyone, M. 34: Prélude03:44
• 6Ravel: Alcyone, M. 34: I. à l'horizon, les blanches voiles06:40
• 7Ravel: Alcyone, M. 34: II. Description symphonique03:56
• 8Ravel: Alcyone, M. 34: III. Ah ! Dieux puissants !01:50
• 9Ravel: Alcyone, M. 34: IV. Mon aimé ! Mon aimé !05:45
• 10Ravel: Alcyone, M. 34: V. Ma fille, mon enfant !04:47
• Myrrha, M. 29:
• 11Ravel: Myrrha, M. 29: Prélude02:21
• 12Ravel: Myrrha, M. 29: I. Me voici seul enfin !03:33
• 13Ravel: Myrrha, M. 29: II. Ainsi qu'un signal09:29
• 14Ravel: Myrrha, M. 29: III. Tu ne passeras pas, ô roi09:02
• L'aurore, M. 45:
• 15Ravel: L'aurore, M. 4506:08
• La nuit, M. 33:
• 16Ravel: La nuit, M. 3304:57
• Les Bayadères, M. 25:
• 17Ravel: Les Bayadères, M. 2503:53
• Matinée de Provence, M. 37:
• 18Ravel: Matinée de Provence, M. 3703:54
• Tout est lumière, M. 28:
• 19Ravel: Tout est lumière, M. 2803:52
• Total Runtime01:39:59

Info for Ravel: Cantates pour le Prix de Rome

Between 1803 and 1968, the Grand Prix de Rome marked the zenith of composition studies at the Paris Conservatoire. In Maurice Ravel’s time the competition included an elimination round (a fugue and a choral piece) followed by a cantata in the form of an operatic scena. The entries were judged by a jury which generally favoured expertise and conformity more than originality and Ravel’s growing reputation as a member of the avant-garde was therefore hardly to his advantage, and may explain why he never won the coveted Premier Grand Prix, and the three-year stay at Rome’s Villa Medici that went with it.

The present two-disc set brings together all the vocal works that Ravel composed for the Prix de Rome – five shorter settings for choir and orchestra and three cantatas, each with three characters taking part in a plot which followed a more or less fixed sequence of introduction, recitative and aria, a duet, a trio and a brief conclusion. First published more than half a century after Ravel’s death, these test pieces for the Prix de Rome have never acquired the popularity of his other early works, such as Pavane pour une infante défunte, Jeux d’eau or the String Quartet. They are worth more than their reputation as academic exercises might suggest, however, and deserve to be better known, especially when performed by Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and Pascal Rophé and a team of vocal soloists including Véronique Gens and Michael Spyres.

Veronique Gens, soprano
Vannina Santoni, soprano
Clarisse Dalles, soprano
Sophie Koch, mezzo-soprano
Janina Baechle, mezzo-soprano
Julien Behr, tenor
Michael Spyres, tenor
Mathys Lagier, tenor
Jacques Imbrailo, baritone
Choeur de l'Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire
Pascal Rophe, conductor

Pascal Rophé
An innovative and passionate musician, Pascal Rophé is one of France’s most sought-after conductors. He is currently Music Director of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, from the 2014/2015 season till 2023 and has been appointed Music Director of the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, effective from September 2022.

Known as one of the foremost exponents of the 20th century repertoire and invited regularly by all the major European ensembles dedicated to contemporary music, Pascal Rophé has also built up an equally enviable reputation for his interpretations of the great symphonic repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries.

In France and abroad, Pascal Rophé works with many major orchestras including the two orchestras of Radio France, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Iceland Symphony, RTE National Symphony, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Suisse Romande, RAI Torino, Norwegian Radio Symphony, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, SWR Sinfonieorchester and Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Highly regarded in Asia, Pascal Rophé regularly conducts the NHK Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Seoul and China Philharmonic orchestras, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan.

Recent highlights include highly successful debuts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Arctic Philharmonic, Norway as well as concerts with the BBC Symphony, London Sinfonietta and the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony in Zagreb. He also returned to Korea to conduct the Seoul Philharmonic and to Japan with the Hyogo PAC Orchestra His premieres included performances of the Concerto for violin and cello by Pascal Dusapin with Viktoria Mullova and Matthew Barley in Paris with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and in Torino with the Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai Orchestra and he also recorded ballet music by Mantovani with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Pascal Rophé is committed to the operatic repertoire: Pelléas and Mélisande, Thaïs, The Flying Dutchman, The Dialogues of the Carmélites and contemporary operas as Michael Jarrell’s Galilée, Ahmed Essyad’s Héloïse et Abélard, Michèle Reverdy’s Medée, Bruno Mantovani’s L’autre Côté and Akhmatova.

For his extensive discography of recordings made with the orchestras of Radio France, BBC Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Suisse Romande, Liège Royal Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, among others. His last two recordings, one with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and the other with the Monte Carlo Orchestra, are composed of works by Michael Jarrell and Bruno Mantovani (Abstract, Symphony No. 1: L'idée fixe). Pascal Rophé has received numerous awards and has been unanimously praised by the music press.

From 1992, after studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and winning second prize at the 1988 Besançon International Competition, he collaborated closely with Pierre Boulez, David Robertson and the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire
In September 1971 the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire gave its first concerts in Nantes and Angers under the baton of Pierre Dervaux. Created on the initiative of Marcel Landowski, music director at the Ministry of Culture, the original orchestra was formed by merging the Nantes Opera Orchestra and the Angers Orchestra of the Société des Concerts Populaires. Thus, since its beginning, the orchestra has been based in two cities: Angers and Nantes.

Pierre Dervaux was its first music director, followed by Marc Soustrot from 1976 to 1994, and Hubert Soudant from 1994 to 2004. The orchestra became “national” in 1996 with further concerts in Germany, Hungary, Austria, China, Japan and elsewhere. Following the Brazilian Isaac Karabtchevsky, the American conductor John Axelrod was appointed music director in September 2010, and was succeeded in February 2013 by Pascal Rophé, who has brought his own characteristic contribution to the orchestra’s repertoire.

The orchestra is supported financially by the regional council of the Pays de la Loire, the Ministry of Culture, the Nantes and Angers town councils, and the Départements of Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire and Vendée.

Booklet for Ravel: Cantates pour le Prix de Rome