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Maurice Yvain: Yes!
Les Frivolités Parisiennes
Classical - Released March 22, 2024 | Alpha Classics
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Mahler: Symphony No. 3 & Lieder (Les indispensables de Diapason)
Leonard Bernstein
Symphonic Music - Released June 30, 2023 | Les Indispensables de Diapason
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Sérénade (Gounod, Bizet, Chabrier, Meyerbeer...)
Thomas Hampson
Duets - Released September 15, 2017 | PentaTone
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4 étoiles Classica
Conceived for the intimate environment of the Parisian salon, these composers honed their skills to produce songs which are sophisticated, superbly crafted and laced with drama, irony and surprise. Always a delight, these songs palpably caress the listener with their beautifully contrived melodies and exquisitely refined harmonies, particularly evident in the plaintive, haunting songs of Ernest Chausson and Jules Massenet. Gallic wit and verbal dexterity is provided in the famous Danse Macabre of Camille Saint-Saëns, Emmanuel Chabrier’s Villanelle des petits canards, and the charming Sérénade and Ô ma belle rebelle by Charles Gounod. It’s a fascinating survey brought vividly to life in these compelling performances in pristine multi-channel sound. © Pentatone
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Amarante
Céline Scheen
Classical - Released November 12, 2010 | Flora
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Dvořák: Symphony 9, Smetana: The Moldau, Liszt: Préludes
Ferenc Fricsay
Classical - Released March 1, 1988 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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The Qobuz Ideal Discography
Only a chosen few can captivate listeners with a work that has been brought out over and over again hundreds of times. But that is what is achieved here with a Symphony "From the New World" byAntonin Dvořák which doesn't seem to have aged a bit. Recorded in 1959 in Berlin in excellent stereo, this feverish performance also shows the miracle that an invited leader can create. In a few short recording sessions, Ferenc Fricsay was able to bring forth from the Berlin Philharmonic a sound that was the polar opposite to Karajan's softness. Everything here, with the exception of an irresistibly dreamy Largo is sharp as a knife and whip-smart, in the the style of the Czech Philharmonic. It is the magic of an orchestra that can instantly adapt itself to the personality of a leader who knows how to convince. Recorded in 1960, but with Fricsay's Berlin RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) Orchestra, the symphonic poem by Franz Liszt, Les Préludes, is cut across by an epic gale, reinforced by a slow and majestic tempo. As for The Moldau (Vlatva) by Bedřich Smetana, so close to Czech hearts, Fricsay recorded it several times, most notably in 1960, with the Südfunk Orchester, the film of a rehearsal of which is one of the few visual records of the great Hungarian conductor. It was over the course of that same year that he made this recording, at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1948, Ferenc Fricsay had signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, becoming one of the few artists never to record for another label. On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the conductor's birth in 2014, the yellow label published an impressive box set (available on Qobuz) which brings together all of his recordings. It is a treasure trove for music lovers, because among the records which remain famous to this day, we find a whole series of forgotten works. The recordings were mainly de in the Titania-Palast in Steglitz in Berlin, which was the only concert hall which was spared the Allies’ bombs. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Debussy: Complete Orchestral Work
Jun Märkl
Classical - Released January 30, 2012 | Naxos
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Debussy: Études & Pour le piano
Steven Osborne
Solo Piano - Released November 3, 2023 | Hyperion
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Gramophone: Recording of the Month
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Parry: Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Blest Pair of Sirens
London Mozart Players
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released September 8, 2023 | Chandos
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Gramophone: Recording of the Month
Hubert Parry's Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, from 1880, here receives its world-recorded premiere. Perhaps recording companies thought there wouldn't be much of a market for a heavy 19th century choral work with, it must be said, a ponderous text by Percy Bysshe Shelley (Prometheus was a play intended to be read, not performed, just to give an idea). How wrong they were. This release made classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2023, and it is altogether enjoyable. At the time, Parry was under the spell of Wagner, whom he traveled to Bayreuth to meet. That influence certainly shows up in Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, with its basically declamatory text, partly through-composed music, wind-and-brass-heavy orchestration, and splashes of chromaticism. Yet what is remarkable is that the music does not come off as an imitation of Wagner at all. Rather, it uses elements of his style to match a specific kind of English literary text. The work gradually disappeared, but it would be surprising if Elgar, whom it clearly prefigures, did not know it well. The performances here are luminous, with William Vann using the lighter-than-expected London Mozart Players to create transparent textures against which he can set the substantial voices of Sarah Fox, Sarah Connolly, and other soloists. Parry did write some shorter pieces that remain in the repertory; one of these, Blest Pair of Sirens, is included here as a finale. However, the Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound are the main news here, and this performance, showing how this kind of thing should be done, may generate a new life for the work.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Récit
Salomé Gasselin
Classical - Released January 13, 2023 | Mirare
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Diapason d'or
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Debussy : Préludes - Satie: Gymnopédies, Gnossiennes
Fazil Say
Solo Piano - Released August 31, 2018 | Warner Classics
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5 de Diapason -
5 étoiles de Classica
The remarkable Turkish pianist Fazıl Say (born 1970) here offers us a suitably remarkable album, recorded in 2016 in the Great Hall of the Salzburg Mozarteum and given over to the Premier Livre of Debussy's Préludes – 1910 – which he sets up in against the six Gnossiennes by Satie (1890 for the first three, 1897 for the latter three) and to the pieces which made him famous, the Gymnopédies of 1888. It's quite stunning to hear these works and to reflect on the fact that Satie's works actually come before Debussy's Préludes – by almost two decades, in fact. It is hardly surprising the Satie has been thought a real avant-gardist both in his day and by minimalists today. Considering how different these two were, it was natural that they should have been friends, especially given Debussy's tendency towards jealousy of his contemporaries... But it is impossible to be jealous of a kind, bubbly soul like Satie. Say brings immense tenderness to these two opposite poles – poles so far removed that they almost join back up. © SM/Qobuz
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Stravinsky: L'Oiseau de feu; Feu d'artifice; 4 Etudes
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO)
Classical - Released July 7, 2023 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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Hahn: Piano Music - Poèmes & Valses
Pavel Kolesnikov
Classical - Released June 3, 2022 | Hyperion
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Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra
Munich Radio Orchestra
Classical - Released October 6, 2023 | BR-Klassik
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One might react to this album with initial annoyance and ask whether it is really necessary to hear orchestrated versions of Schubert's supremely pianistic songs. It may come as a surprise, then, to find that most of these Lieder with Orchestra were arranged by great composers. They include Benjamin Britten, Jacques Offenbach, and Max Reger, who took on the job because, he said, he hated to hear a piano-accompanied song on an orchestral program. Perhaps the most surprising name to find is that of Anton Webern, but his arrangements are not the minimal, pointillistic things one might expect; he wrote these arrangements as a way of studying Schubert's music, and they are quite straightforward. Indeed, it is somewhat difficult to distinguish the arrangers simply by listening to the music; Schubert's melodic lines tend to suggest distinctive solutions. Perhaps Reger's are a bit more lush than the others, although his version of Erlkönig, D. 328, is one of the few numbers here that just doesn't work (there is no way to replicate the percussive quality of the accompaniment). As for the performances as such, Benjamin Appl is clearly an important rising baritone, and he has a wonderful natural quality in Schubert. An oddball release like this might seem an unusual choice for a singer in early career, but he contributes his own notes, and he seems to have undertaken the project out of genuine enthusiasm for the material. At the very least, he has brought some intriguing pieces out of the archives and given them highly listenable performances. The Munich Radio Orchestra, under the young Oscar Jockel, is suitably restrained and keeps out of Appl's way. This release made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2023.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 "avec orgue" & Piano Concerto No. 4
Les Siècles
Classical - Released January 11, 2011 | harmonia mundi
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Les Siècles is one of France's finest early music ensembles, and its work in repertoire from the Baroque era to the Romantic period is fascinating for its precision, attention to historical details, and most of all, commitment to original instrumentation. This live album of Camille Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 in C minor, "Organ," and the Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor offers a close-up presentation of Les Siècles' methods and sounds, and the interpretations by conductor François-Xavier Roth, pianist Jean-François Heisser, and organist Daniel Roth give a clear idea of what they and the ensemble deliver as authentic Romantic sound. In these performances, the orchestra is chamber size, the strings play with minimal vibrato, the woodwinds have a slightly pungent quality, and the brass have a distinct cutting edge, unlike modern instruments. Yet there is a striking imbalance when the organ and percussion are heard in the last half of the symphony, due to the extremely reverberant space of Sainte-Sulpice, Paris. The orchestra seems tiny in comparison with the tremendous volume of the full Cavaillé-Coll organ, while the timpani and bass drum create an enormous roar that might be thrilling for anyone seeking a big noise, but unnecessarily explosive for admirers of this work. The balance of forces is much better in the concerto, which was recorded in the drier acoustics of the Opéra Comique, Paris, and the finer points of the playing and the instruments can be heard more clearly. While this disc is unlikely to supplant recordings of cherished modern performances of these works, it's worth hearing to get an idea of the colors Saint-Saëns had to work with. Harmonia Mundi's sound is clean and focused, except where the acoustics blur the sound.
© TiVo
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Satie: Gymnopedies
Denis Pascal
Classical - Released December 2, 2022 | La Musica
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4F de Télérama -
Choc de Classica
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Debussy: Préludes, Livres 1 & 2
Vestard Shimkus
Classical - Released March 31, 2023 | ARTALINNA
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Jeanne Leleu, une consécration éclatante, Vol. 1: Musique de chambre et mélodies
Marie-Laure Garnier
Chamber Music - Released January 26, 2024 | La Boîte à Pépites
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The small label La boîte à pépites investigates the music of women composers, all of them so far from France. Introduced by appealing cover drawings, they explore a single composer in depth, often devoting more than one volume to the same figure. Here, Jeanne Leleu is featured on the first volume of what is to become a multi-volume series. The songs and chamber music here are early works, but they already reveal a distinctive voice from Leleu, who, as a child piano prodigy, gave the world premiere of Ravel's Ma mère l'oye and won the Prix de Rome in 1923 for her cantata Béatrix. There is little evidence of contemporary trends, but neither is Leleu's music derivative of anyone else's. The opening Quartet for violin, viola, cello, and piano has a lovely quiet and lyrical tone sustained over its three movements. Perhaps the highlights are the Six Sonnets de Michel-Ange ("Six Sonnets of Michelangelo"), which also exist in an orchestral version; they receive standout performances from soprano Marie-Laure Garnier, who is agile in catching the turns Leleu brings to the sonnet form. The finale En Italie piano pieces are colorful programmatic works, never obvious. Pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid and the other performers deliver clean readings, keeping in mind the label's goal of putting the composer at the center of each release. One anxiously awaits further volumes devoted to Leleu, who wrote a good deal of music in larger forms.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Le Concert des Oiseaux. Vincent Bouchot: Le Carnaval des animaux en péril
La Rêveuse
Classical - Released February 10, 2023 | harmonia mundi
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Several famous pieces of music based on birdsong appeared in the 19th and 20th centuries; those by Saint-Saëns, Britten, and Ravel are here, although Messiaen is not. However, the affinity between music and birdsong had been explored for centuries before that, and the early music group La Rêveuse here provides some delightful examples. The always pictorial François Couperin is represented, as is Rameau, but other composers are less familiar but no less charming. Sample the works by Theodor Schwartzkopff, Michel Blavet, and especially Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (1667-1737), whose "Les Ramages" ("The Songs") names a group of birds and then illustrates their songs. Then there are historical-instrument versions of Saint-Saëns, Britten, and Ravel. One may accept this idea or not, but even in the latter case, they don't do much to dent the charm of the whole. The program ends with a work by contemporary composer Vincent Bouchot, Le Carnaval des animaux en péril, a kind of a take-off on Saint-Saëns for the Anthropocene era that also calls forth a striking variety of instruments from La Rêveuse. Another questionable idea is that, in keeping with the practices of this group, recorded birdsong is heard between some of the tracks. Whatever aspects of this release might be doubtful, it rarely fails to bring a smile.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Guitar Recital: Raphaël Feuillâtre
Raphaël Feuillâtre
Classical - Released June 14, 2019 | Naxos
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Per l'Orchestra di Dresda, Vol.1 Ouverture
Les Ambassadeurs - La Grande Écurie
Concertos - Released August 20, 2021 | Aparté
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Alexis Kossenko delves into the repertoire of one of the most admired orchestras in Europe during Bach’s lifetime. The greatest composers of the century composed for this famous ensemble, a showcase for the musical splendour of the court of the prince-electors. Combining concerti and sacred music, this album is the first volume in an exceptional series devoted to this orchestra. © Aparté
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