FRANCK AND RAVEL

This evening of French music, led by a French conductor (Lionel Bringuier) and featuring a star French soloist (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet), brings a certain “je ne sais quoi” to the QPAC Concert Hall, effortlessly transporting the audience into the best memories of their French experiences. Opening with the familiar sounds of Fantasia, this concert brings us the fabulous “Sourcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas. Can you hear Harry Potter-like adventure in it? Or maybe you can picture Mickey Mouse dancing with a broom? This 12-minute piece is all about magic and storytelling. It is lush, warm, courageous, and filled with escapism that entices listeners of all ages.

The last time Bavouzet graced Brisbane’s stage with his talent was to perform Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand some years back. His dazzling interpretation of the French modernist composers evokes yearning for adventure. This time playing with both hands, Bavouzet transports us into the Jazz Age, into the experimental sounds inspired by the faster pace of life and ooze optimism and curiosity about new possibilities this period had to offer.

Coming back for a sparkling encore of Ravel’s Prelude and Toccata in E-minor, Bavouzet delivers a magnificent performance of the first and the last pieces from the composition Le Tombeau de Couperin, continuing the modernist atmosphere of the piano concerto and the story of Ravel, who composed this work as a tribute to fallen friends in the First World War.

Stepping back a few decades, the concert concludes with Symphony in D minor by Cesar Franck. The influential French composer, who was actually born in Belgium, indulged in Wagnerian sounds, making his only Symphony more popular outside France than in it. Queensland Symphony Orchestra's (QSO) rendition of it is a sweet triumph of an evening of Frenchness, where classicism is delivered with elegance, fine taste, and zealous modernism.