0 Debussy: Nocturnes; Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloe Suite No. 2, Pavane; Scriabin

It seems that at some point DG made some of its best recordings with the Boston Symphony and a wide variety of guest conductors: Abbado, Tilson Thomas, Steinberg, Bernstein, and Jochum. The performances collected here are wonderful. The BSO has always been acclaimed in French repertoire, and at this point in his career Abbado had not yet turned into the fussy micromanager that he is now (at least most of the time). And Scriabin also is French, to the extent that he’s anything at all.

 

This version of the Nocturnes is certainly the best by this orchestra, and one of the best by anyone. Consider the opening of Fêtes: perfect tempo, ideal transparency of texture, and bright trumpets that provide power without stridency (sound clip). These qualities grace the two Ravel items equally, and work equally well. The Daphnis Second Suite, alternately poetic and exciting, with its chorus parts intact, also ranks with the best on disc.

As for the Poem of Ecstasy, a work you either love or hate, it proceeds in a seamless arch of opulent excess, from mysterious opening to the concluding blast of sound. DG’s remastered sonics are very good–not state of the art for today, perhaps a touch dry, but a slightly lean sonority suits the music well, even the Scriabin (especially if you have a low tolerance for schmaltz). A great collection. -- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Detail: Debussy: Nocturnes; Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloe Suite No. 2, Pavane; Scriabin

0 Berlioz: Herminie, Les Nuits D'ete; Ravel: Sheherazade

“In her mid-forties, this voice has become richer and even more expressive, and he works on this disc suit her to perfection. She not only pronounces the words, she feels them...Her Nuits d'ete reilshes hues both light and dark, and if she'd been around to sing Berlioz's Prix de Rome cantata Herminie in 1828, who know, he might have won gold instead of silver!” --BBC Music Magazine, October 2012 ****

“[Gens is] alive and vivid, giving a passionate account of the wonderful Sur les Lagunes. Elsewhere, she seems to me in too much of a hurry.” --Sunday Times, 9th July 2012

“warm, sensitive, the lyrical French soprano par excellence...Gens bring [Herminie] to life as sympathetically as any of her operatic portrayals...It is unusual to encounter a recording of Les nuits d'ete in which the colouring is so consistent throughout...Gens has in her sights a purer kind of poetry.” --Gramophone Magazine, September 2012

“As you might expect, Gens's singing has sharpened its musical perceptions still further and acquired even more shades of colour since [her] earlier recording. No one today delivers French song with the combination of tonal beauty and verbal nuance she does, and each number of Nuits d'Eté offers a miniature masterclass...Pure ravishment.” --The Guardian, 21st June 2012 *****

Detail: Berlioz: Herminie, Les Nuits D'ete; Ravel: Sheherazade

0 French Impressions

Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk

“Denk identifies the use of colour as being key to the Frenchness of these pieces, and Joshua Bell is certainly not short of timbral variety in this exquisitely played recital. It even beats his compelling Franck disc of 20 years ago. The playing is more relaxed and Bell's delicious use of portamento is achingly beautiful. He is sensitively accompanied by Denk, who has a wonderfully deft touch, captured in excellent sound.” --BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ***** 

“Joshua Bell plays with fire and finesse, with Denk a powerful ally. Franck's dark-light violin sonata, mysterious, ardent and far more than the sum of its parts when played as majestically as here, forms the centrepiece of this seriously beguiling disc. A first essential purchase for 2012.” --The Observer, January 2012

“Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk, a notably well-matched team, give idiomatic performances of these three sonatas...They're especially adept in maintaing the flow of the musical narrative and, with it, the music's emotional flux....Bell is especially impressive in the moto perpetuo finale - not only thrillingly precise but full of colour and variety, too” --Gramophone Magazine, March 2012

“You’d be hard pressed to find a version of Ravel’s Sonata which offers as much fun as this one; you can visualise Joshua Bell winking as he negotiates the second movement’s insouciant smears and pizzicato notes...This is a great performance [of the Franck], especially in the steady Allegretto of the last movement...Sony’s sound is immaculate.” --The Arts Desk, 4th February 2012

Detail: French Impressions

0 Berlioz: Symphony Fantastisque, Etc

...[E]xcellent Berlioz performances... Leonard Bernstein's dramatic yet classically structured recording of the Symphonie fantastique was highly regarded when it was first issued, but outside of purchasing an import LP, American audiences have not been able to hear it in all its glory until now... I have always felt that Previn's ardent, exceptionally well played readings of...the composer's overtures is highly underrated... -- Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com [reviewing EMI 73338]

Detail: Berlioz: Symphony Fantastisque, Etc