Search - Milhaud, Honegger, Roussel :: Milhaud: Les Choéphores; Honegger: Symphony No. 5; Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane

Fois gras

Mark McCue | Denver, CO USA | 08/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These stupendous performances, showing the great Markevitch at his best, date from the late 50s and have been coveted in various DG, Epic, US Decca vinyl guises for years and years.As an artist, Markevitch was true caviar--his mania for quality in material and orchestral execution was well-known and sometimes led to grumpiness from musicians who thought he was a slave-driver. Nevertheless, the musicians of the Lamoureux elected him as conductor and -- poof -- the orchestra went immediately to a golden age. Not since Paul Paray had the musicians had so much celebrity.They play like it here. All these works are a bear to play, but what exudes from this disk is a supreme sense of confidence and surrender to the conductor. The Chorephores is a moving work with music in utter service of text--Markevitch has it worked in so closely that the blandishments of the words sound almost like a psychological examination. The performances from which this recording stems were runaway critical successes in Paris and it was hard to get tickets. The Brasseur Chorus, always a crack outfit, outdoes itself in tone, mimicry, rythmic attention. The B & A is one of the great readings: listen to the incredible wind and brass execution as it runs the gamut from ppp to fff without any loss in tone or character in the vibrato. Markevitch keeps everything within the realm of dance: rythms are strong but not clompy, tonal beauty is never sacrificed in favor of volume, the ebb and flow is so natural that you forget how many tempo changes the score has. It's masterful beyond words. Those who feel Martinon in Chicago was the end-all in this piece had better listen to this-the CSO can and has been outplayed, more often than not in French music.And the Di Tre Re: Possibly Honegger's greatest work, it's never had greater advocacy than here. I'm not throwing out my Munch or Ansermet, but Markevitch and the Lamoureux impart a luminous, transluscent quality to the work, in a great part due to superior execution (the orchestra has done it under a number of conductors). Dating from 1960, it's a wonder more maestri haven't taken a cue from this performance and programmed the work more often. One answer may be: it's hard and takes a lot of guts and fortitude to come up with a magnificent performance as the Lamoureux has here. All in all, if you love Milhaud, Roussel, Honegger...this is a classic disk with virtues so overpowering that it's unique on the market today."

Amazing performances of neglected masterworks

Houyhnhnm | 08/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Darius Milhaud work on this CD gets my vote for his best serious work, and the most unjustly ignored work of the 20th century. But Markevitch doesn't ignore it; he provides an amazing interpretation. The fifth movement, the Exhortation, for emphatic narrator and chorus, with shouts and prominent percussion, is in a class by itself. This is dramatic choral music, indeed.



The sound on the album suffers a bit from the technology used at the time it was made. It is not modern. It doesn't do the performance complete justice. But it is not at all bad -- indeed, I'm listening to it on headphones as I type, and it does not detract much at all from the experience, something I cannot say for most recordings prior to 1960. (Stravinsky's remark about early recordings is perfect in most cases, if not this: "It sounds like music coming from a closet." But what about the new Hi-Fi? "Music coming from two closets.") Still, it is the greatness of the performance that make this recording a must-have.



Arthur Honegger's symphony is another gem, here. It is his most cerebral symphony, and Markevitch finds the right balance, bringing out the flurry of movement and color and motivic interest. It is too often maligned as the least successful of the composer's later symphonic works. Perhaps if those doing the bad-mouthing had heard this recording, the general opinion would be much higher. Indeed, after listening to this performance I upgraded the work to the peak of Honegger's output. It is, in its way, a perfect thing, a marvel of control and formal beauty.



I have little useful to say about the Albert Roussel work; I've never cared for the composer, and though this work is fine as it is, it doesn't move me. Others will no doubt disagree. But for me, it is the Milhaud performance that makes up the main course, the Honegger the dessert. The Roussel work is the doggie bag treat. (Roussel fans will hate me; c'est la vie.)"