Ibert: Divertissement

Paris in the twenties is conjured up in the witty Divertissement, whilst Escales paints pictures of sun-drenched Mediterranean ports. Film music for Chaliapin and Gene Kelly rubs shoulders with jazz and fugues in the music of the many-sided Ibert.

The details are unclear, but one thing is certain: our couple loves classical music. This recording tells a love story with a happy ending, through a number of short but elegant compositions. Even small-scale works can be great in their own way and, compiled in such a creative manner and performed by such excellent musicians, they offer the listener an hour of sheer amazement and amusement.

From Jacques Ibert's Divertissement for chamber orchestra (when the couple first meet), via Anton Heberle's Concerto in G major (the wedding music) through to Peter Heidrich's Variations on Happy Birthday (the happy ending and final celebration), the orchestra accompanies the couple not only when they indulge their liking of tea during their honeymoon, but adding music from all eras as a backdrop to their relationship.

Since its establishment in 1935, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana has enjoyed a status as one of Switzerland's best-known orchestras, working regularly with renowned conductors and prestigious soloists.

On this recording, the ensemble is conducted by the English conductor Howard Griffiths, who has guest conducted many leading orchestras worldwide and is currently GMD of the Brandenburg State Orchestra. The soloists are Maurice Steger (recorder), who was hailed in The Independent newspaper as "the world's leading recorder virtuoso", and the pianist Davide Cabassi, finalist at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

The LCO return to disc on Signum with a new programme of French orchestral works by Ravel, Fauré, Poulenc and Ibert. Their ‘LCO Live’ series captures the vibrant, exciting performances they give at their London home of St. John’s, Smith Square. Singled out as one of the capital’s (and the nation’s) leading ensembles, the LCO and their Music Director Christopher Warren-Green performed for the wedding service of TRHs The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge earlier this year.

“The concerts of Warren-Green and the London Chamber Orchestra at St John’s, Smith Square aren’t often noticed in the press, but their large regular audience knows that they are some of the most exciting in London.” The Times

By having an Italian father, a French mother and by being born in Victorian Bloomsbury, it seems that John Barbirolli set himself up for a life with a natural affinity for Italian, French and English music. It was an ideal pedigree for a poetic and sensitive musician.

The performances of French music on this disc were made during the 1950s – a vintage period with the Hallé Orchestra. His supreme conducting of Debussy can be heard in the Prélude – rich with poetic detail and a strong surge of sensuality floods the string tone, with red-blooded brass playing. There are plenty of musical jokes in Ibert’s Divertissement – Barbirolli extracts the fun but leaves the music with its own dignity.

The waltz-skit on The Blue Danube is an example of Ibert’s wit and who can resist the final chase with police whistles being blow amid the chaos? The Carnival of the Animals – a ‘grand zoological fantasy’ – was a popular item in the repertory of the famous piano duo Rawicz and Landauer. They are heard here in the 1954 HMV recording. Unusually, the famous Swan – a dignified and beautiful melody – is scored here for the whole cello section.

When Anna Pavlova danced the famous ‘Dying Swan’ at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1920, the solo cellist was none other than John Barbirolli. She was so pleased with his playing that she asked to meet him. When recounted the incident in later years he said: ‘She had a grip of iron – nearly broke all my fingers!’.

Offenbach leads the way in opéra-bouffe – the blend of burlesque and highly tuneful music that would eventually evolve into the Broadway musical. Gaîté Parisienne is a ballet score collection of Offenbach melodies from his operettas, arranged and orchestrated by the French composer Manuel Rosenthal. It contains many famous tunes such as the Cancan from Orphée aux enfers, and Barcarolle from Les contes d’Hoffmann. Also included in the disk is Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)’s Divertissement for Small Orchestra.

Recorded in 1953/4