Virgil Thomson: Louisiana Story & Other Film Music

New London Orchestra, Ronald Corp

Released on 01/02/1992 by Hyperion
Main artists: New London Orchestra Ronald Corp
Genre: Classical

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When leading an orchestra, Ronald Corp is a conductor often associated with light music of various kinds. The orchestral music of Virgil Thomson might be viewed as "light music with a thorn in its side," so overall Corp's approach proves an excellent match for Thomson. If the listener is unacquainted with Thomson's excellent music for orchestra, then Virgil Thomson: Louisiana Story is a reliable and gratifying place to get started.
The title work "Louisiana Story" is represented by two suites drawn from Thomson's Pulitzer Prize winning film score, Louisiana Story Suite and Louisiana Story: Acadian Songs and Dances. In the first suite Corp's approach bit more astringent and taut than Siegfried Landau's familiar old recording for Vox, which tended toward a more lush texture in the strings. But the suite sounds good either way, and Corp is more dramatic in the concluding "Fugue: Boy fights alligator." This seems to be the first outing on disc of Louisiana Story: Acadian Songs and Dances, a thoroughly enjoyable manifestation of Louisiana Cajun-Creole music in orchestral garb. It's a shame that Thomson didn't choose to end this suite with a bang; rather, it peters out like the wind leaking from a squeezebox. Otherwise there would be little to prevent this delightful suite from becoming a concert favorite. Power Among Men: Fugues and Cantilenas is a suite drawn from a British documentary scored by Thomson in 1958, and likewise this appears to be its first recording. It is made up of busy fugues, some rather sharp climaxes, and succeeds in delivering a big finale. Corp and the New London Orchestra seem to get the best out of a score that contains a lot of great music, but seems to need the images.
The only reservation about Virgil Thomson: Louisiana Story is that the familiar opening work, The Plow That Broke the Plains: Suite, seems strangely underpowered in this reading. Corp is respectful but lacks the pseudo-dance band feel that seems to belong to this suite; the fourth movement, "Blues," doesn't swing. Nonetheless, dynamic levels in the piece are good throughout and are handled a bit more carefully here than elsewhere. The disc also has the advantage of excellent liner notes by Christopher Palmer, and in terms of sound quality, this is your best bet for any of this music.

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Virgil Thomson: Louisiana Story & Other Film Music

New London Orchestra

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The Plow That Broke the Plains – Suite: I. Prelude. Prologue

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Virgil Thomson, Composer - New London Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - Ronald Corp, Conductor, MainArtist