Marie Jaell Piano Concertos 1 and 2 on France Musique

[Mark Thomas]

I'm coming late to the party, I know but, having only just downloaded and listened to them, I have to say how enjoyable and well put together these two works are. They're not just full of the pianistic fireworks that one might expect from a 19th century virtuoso but there is a real dialogue between the soloist and orchestra, the orchestration is solidly appropriate and the whole experience is musically satisfying. What a judgement on the way that music has gone that these works have gathered dust for so long.

[Mark Thomas]

There's a downloadable catalogue (in French) of Marie Jaëll's music available here. Having listened to both concertos a couple of times now, my admiration only increases. Playing the "sounds like" game (which I know I shouldn't do), the First Concerto in particular reminds me very much indeed of Rubinstein: both the phrasing of her melodies, in the solo part in particular, and also the powerfully spare and almost Beethovenian writing for orchestra - particularly the treatment of the strings.