Search - Wolf-Ferrari, Mackerras, Po :: Overtures Intermezzi & Dances

NOTHING TOO DEMANDING

DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 11/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This pleasant and good-quality disc ought to make someone an agreeable Christmas gift. Before he attained star status himself, Mackerras used to be in demand from the recording companies as a standby conductor to fill in for some of the bigger names when for any reason they had to default on recording engagements. The performances here date mainly from 1958, although Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours is from two years subsequently. The remastering was carried out in 2004, and I am happy to report that it has been very well done indeed. Every piece here benefits from and demands clarity and `presence' in the orchestral tone, whether it be in the sparkle of the second intermezzo from The Jewels of the Madonna, or in the refinement of Verdi's ballet for a Parisian production of Otello, his last piece of output for the stage.



The virtues of Mackerras's conducting are probably familiar by now. You will hear in this selection his familiar strength of line, rhythmic grip and impetus and sense for instrumental tone and colour that have over the years elevated his status from the substitutes' bench to being a sought-after star in his own right. I suppose that confronted with a box of bonbons like this some will feel a temptation to wonder just what special extra magic Beecham might have added, but I found the thought easy enough to dismiss from my mind. The pieces here make a very sensible and coherent group in the first place - the Verdi and Ponchielli numbers are bound to be familiar to many, and I am probably not alone in having known one of the intermezzi from Wolf-Ferrari's Jewels of the Madonna practically all my life and the same composer's overture to Susanna's Secret for nearly as long. To that add consistency of approach in the direction, and we finish with a very pleasing and satisfying orchestral recital, none of the music trivial but none of it making unseasonable demands on our concentration. Go ahead - enjoy."