by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Pianist-composer Belle Chen draws on the music of Maurice Ravel for this new album, using the French composer’s melodies and piano textures as a starting point for her own response to the place in our lives that forests hold.

For Chen a single experience led her towards this album, a sunset in Australia where she watched a particular tree at sunset in a tropical rainforest. As the sun dipped in the sky the forest came to life, with birds, frogs and other beings becoming animated by the light – an experience that gave her renewed awareness of her place in the ecosystem.

To Ravel’s music Chen adds electronic effects and various techniques to bring extra colour to the upright piano she uses throughout – while some of the pieces are purely original, using the clarity of Ravel’s style for inspiration.

What’s the music like?

This is a classy chill out album – with all the qualities you get from music that you might expect to hear on a peaceful piano playlist, but with added detail that really rewards repeated listening or immersive playbacks on a surround sound system.

Belle Chen has put together some clever arrangements, and when Ravel’s music is in play she is careful not to crowd the melodies in any way. That heart-shifting melody from the slow movement of the Piano Concerto is well-treated on Adagio, San, while the theme from the skittish scherzo in his String Quartet is brilliantly realised in its new guise on Kingdom Animalia.

Adding animal noises to evoke the forest could have been a dangerous move, but again the effects are subtly done – as is also the case with the strings of the Budapest Art Orchestra when used on Moonrise and Closer.

At times the listener is transported far beyond the listening environment to stand in the forest itself, and on tracks like And It Rains the vivid evocation of droplets is enhanced by adding felt to the piano. Three Birds is brilliantly done, too, as is Chen’s evocation of The Dragonfly, realised with rapid passagework on the dampened keys.

Does it all work?

It does, impressively so. Often it can be said that piano chill-out albums become one-dimensional as they progress, but this is different, as Chen keeps subtly varying the textures, the melodies and the emotions to keep the attention of the listener.

Is it recommended?

It is, enthusiastically. Belle Chen has a really appealing and respectful way of interacting with Ravel, using the bones of his material to create an album buzzing with incident and inspiration. Her own original compositions are both original and captivating. As a result, Ravel’s music is successfully reimagined for a 21st century audience.

For fans of… Ravel, Philip Glass, Nils Frahm, Michael Nyman

Listen & Buy

Ravel in the Forest is released on Friday 16 February. You can listen to clips from each track and purchase at the Presto Music website

Published post no.2,083 – Saturday 10 February 2024