Concert - Pascal Rogé

The recital opens with three charming, engaging miniatures by Francis Poulenc, full of lyricism and wit. The suite of five pieces which make up Ravel’s Miroirs follows the Poulenc. The musical impressions, which abound in local colour, cover the flickering of moths at night; sorrowful birds in a forest; the dangers of a ship on the ocean; a dawn song; and the sonority of the tolling of bells.

The first half ends with the pictorial imagery of Debussy’s Estampes: the ‘engravings’ are of pagodas, an evening in Granada and raindrops in a garden. Book I of Debussy’s Preludes, comprising twelve self-contained evocative and atmospheric pieces, fills the second half: the subjects here include both a whispering and a terrifying wind; a melancholy winter landscape with footsteps in the snow; the legend of a submerged cathedral; and, most famously, ‘the girl with the flaxen hair’. PROGRAMME - Poulenc Trois Novelettes Ravel Miroirs Debussy Estampes Debussy Preludes Book 1