Search - Hans Christian Lumbye, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Champagne Galop: Polkas, Mazurkas and Waltzes of Hans Christian Lumbye

Lumbye - Champagne Galop

Virginia Alexander | San Antonio, Texas USA | 11/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I searched for and found this CD on Amazon .com after several times of hearing Lumbye's "Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop" on XM-Sirius radio in my car. I had never heard of Lumbye who was one of Denmark's top 19th century composers and director of music at the Tivoli. The CD is out of print but I was able to find a new one through Amazon with very little effort. The specific piece I was searching for is truly delightful and very visual. Illustrated through music, a steam locomotive travels through the Danish countryside and finally comes to a stop in the station. Rollicking and such fun to listen to! The other pieces on the CD are also very enjoyable. A good spirit lifter! It's not background music, but instead pulls the listener to join right in and have fun."

Listen to Thomas Jensen instead

Tommy Nielsen | Swords, Co. Dublin Ireland | 07/27/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was for a while looking for a good recording of the most famous Lumbye galops, marches and polkas. And thought Rozdestvenski was it - he is after all a fairly renowned conductor. However, I am much disappointed.



The galops sound stiff and boring, the polkas are danced as with crutches, the music is overall poorly paced. All the notes are clearly in place but the conductor doesn't seem to care about thi music at all. I cannot believe that anybody who is first acquianted with Lumbye through this recording would ever want to return to him again. The 'Strauss of the North' denomination must sound terribly exaggerated.



If you want witty (this music is supposed to bring a smile to your lips), boyant, well-paced accounts of this music you'll have to consult Thomas Jensen on Danacord (you find it on Amazon.co.uk). Those recordings are vintage EMI (mono) from 1942-43 but sound much better and are much easier on the ear than this overly reverberant recording (why, with so many excellent engineers around have Danish Broadcasting Corporation still not managed to turn out one single disc with a natural sound on it - why do they keep overdoing added reverberation, space etc.?).



Try Thomas Jensen - and you'll never want to listen to anybody else."