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Sunday, October 16, 2016

César Franck; Igor Stravinsky - Symphony; Pétrouchka (Pierre Monteux)


Information

Composer: César Franck; Igor Stravinsky
  1. Franck - Symphony in D minor, M. 48: I. Lento - Allegro non troppo
  2. Franck - Symphony in D minor, M. 48: II. Allegretto
  3. Franck - Symphony in D minor, M. 48: III. Allegro non troppo
  4. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene I. The Shrove-Tide Fair. Vivace
  5. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene I. The Shrove-Tide Fair. The Magic Trick
  6. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene I. The Shrove-Tide Fair. Russian Dance
  7. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene II. Pétrouchka's Room
  8. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene III. The Moor's Room. Feroce stringendo
  9. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene III. The Moor's Room. Dance of the Ballerina
  10. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene III. The Moor's Room. Valse
  11. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Con moto
  12. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Wet Nurses' Dance
  13. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Peasant with Bear
  14. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Gypsies
  15. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Dance of the Coachmen
  16. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Masqueraders
  17. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Scuffle
  18. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Death of Pétrouchka
  19. Stravinsky - Pétrouchka: Scene IV. The Fair Toward Evening. Pétrouchka's Ghost

Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1-3)
Boston Symphony Orchestra (4-19)
Pierre Monteux, conductor

Dates: 1959 (4-19), 1961 (1-3)
Label: RCA


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Review

Reference Recording: Monteux’s Irreplaceable Franck Symphony

A few decades ago, Franck’s Symphony in D minor was standard repertoire, and every major conductor recorded it. Now, the work’s high romantic sentimentality seems to have fallen out of fashion, and new releases are far less common. Interpretations run the gamut from reasonably strict and “classical”, to totally demented (think: Stokowski). Monteux’s falls decidedly into the “classical” category, but never to the detriment of expressivity. 

Consider how he handles the luscious second subject of the first movement, with a singing tone and real urgency, the ensuing accelerando done with passion, excitement, and yes, taste. The Chicago Symphony plays gloriously (this was the Reiner era, let’s not forget), responding to Monteux’s every perfectly judged nuance. It has become fashionable lately to disparage this performance, in addition to dogging the work, but as Tovey once wrote, “All’s not false that’s taught in the public schools.” This recording was the best in its day, both interpretively and sonically, and so it remains 50 years on.

The coupling of Pétrouchka might seem odd–there’s only so much Monteux material available in stereo to RCA, but it’s equally wonderful. Indeed, if I had to choose a single CD to represent the conductor’s art at its best, this would probably be the one. Again, he has a great orchestra at his disposal, one fully at home in the idiom, and he leads a performance at once lovingly detailed but also brilliant and glittering. In the Danse Russe Monteux captures the music’s mechanical, cartoonish qualities to perfection, while the folk dances in the concluding tableau have all the rhythmic bounce and gaiety that one could ask. The sonics are superb even by modern standards. What a joy this disc is!

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:

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César Franck (10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. As an organist he was particularly noted for his skill in improvisation. Franck is considered by many the greatest composer of organ music after Bach. Franck exerted a significant influence on music. He helped to renew and reinvigorate chamber music and developed the use of cyclic form. He became professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872, his pupils included Vincent d'Indy, Ernest Chausson, Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, Guillaume Lekeu and Henri Duparc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Franck

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Igor Stravinsky (17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). Stravinsky's compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. His output is typically divided into three general style periods: a Russian period, a neoclassical period, and a serial period.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Stravinsky

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Pierre Monteux (4 April 1875 – 1 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor and teacher. He came to prominence whe, he conducted the world premieres of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and other prominent works including Petrushka, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, and Debussy's Jeux. Thereafter he directed orchestras around the world for more than half a century. Monteux was also well known as a teacher. His student included Igor Markevitch, Neville Marriner, André Previn, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa and David Zinman.

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