Henri Dutilleux
's
Tout un monde lointain
was composed for
Mstislav Rostropovich
and was premiered by him in 1970. There is no surfeit of cello concertos from the 20th century, and the work is often called one. Yet, it is, and it isn't. The work exemplifies
Dutilleux
's modernist take on the Impressionist tradition. The role of the cello in the five linked movements, each labeled with a quotation from
Baudelaire
's poetry, is not to contend with the orchestra but to add a distinctive flavor to a larger atmospheric event. One might call it a cello tone poem, and the performance by cellist
Victor Julien-Laferriere
and the
Orchestre National de France
under conductor
Kristiina Poska
is suitably mysterious and quiet.
Pascal Dusapin
Outscape
, which here receives its recorded premiere, treats the cello in a different way: as part of a directional dynamic.
Dusapin
says that he chose the English title because "I really like this word... basically it sums up the story of my work: the idea of fleeing to a different place, in order to understand, to discern, to try to see and hear what is further away." The description captures the mixture of abstraction and urgency in
's work, and again,
Julien-Laferriere
's performance is sympathetic.
Alpha
's engineers provide clear, immediate live sound from a pair of different performances. ~ James Manheim