Ohana: “Anneau du Tamarit,” “Signes,” “Livre des...

Ohana: “Anneau du Tamarit,” “Signes,” “Livre des prodiges.” Alain Meunier, cello; Ensemble Ars Nova de l’O.R.T.F., conducted by Marius Constant; Orchestre National de France, conducted by Marc Andrae and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. Musifrance 2292-45503-2 (compact disc). From the evidence of this anthology, Maurice Ohana emerges as a contemporary French sensualist with a yen for gauzy backgrounds, exotic percussive color and sustained contemplation. “Livre” is the most interesting of these tone poems, luxuriating in dense orchestral underbrush that gradually becomes more ominous in tone and syncopated in rhythm. With its long, lyrical, agonized lines for solo cello, as lusciously played by Meunier, “Anneau” is an Andalusian successor to Bloch’s “Schelomo,” and “Signes” is a chamber work that variously evokes the Far East and Edgard Varese. For anyone looking for an Ohana sampler, this CD has the field to itself.