Charles Koechlin - The Jungle Book (David Zinman)

Information

Composer: Charles Koechlin

CD1:

1. 3 Poems of "The Jungle Book", Op. 18: 1. Seal Lullaby
2. 3 Poems of "The Jungle Book", Op. 18: 2. Night song of the Jungle
3. 3 Poems of "The Jungle Book", Op. 18: 3. Song of Kala Nag
4. The Spring Running, Op. 95: Spring in the Forest -
5. The Spring Running, Op. 95: Mowgli -
6. The Spring Running, Op. 95: The Running -
7. The Spring Running, Op. 95: Night

CD2:

1. The Meditation of Purun Bhagat, Op. 159
2. The Law of the Jungle, Op. 175
3. The Bandar-log, Op. 176

Iris Vermillion, mezzo-soprano (Op. 18)
Johan Botha, tenor (Op. 18)
Ralf Lukas, bass-baritone (Op. 18)
RIAS Kammerchor (Op. 18)
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
David Zinman, conductor

Date: 1993
Label: RCA

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

Believe it or not, this set seems to be kicking around still, either as a domestic release or as a reasonably priced Japanese import. If you missed it the first time around, grab it now, because heaven only knows how long it will remain available. Koechlin’s series of works based on Kipling’s The Jungle Book consists of five evocative and remarkable pieces: Three Poems, Op. 18, The Spring Running, The Meditation of Purun Bhagat, The Law of the Jungle, and Les Bandar-log. This last is the best known of the group, and the entire series has been recorded at least three times. 

This is far and away the best version of the lot: extremely well played, incisively conducted, and very wellrecorded. It also includes the Three Poems of Op. 18, which are absolutely, ridiculously, insanely gorgeous and you won’t believe that they almost never get performed. They are very well sung by mezzo-soprano Iris Vermillion, tenor Johan Botha, and bass Ralf Lukas. Today, you can also get them on the two-disc set of Koechlin’s complete orchestral songs issued by Hänssler Classic, but it’s particularly good to have them paired with the other Jungle Book pieces. 

The opening Seal Lullaby (Berceuse phoque) offers a good idea of what to expect. Now admit it–you want it. You have to own it. You can’t live without it. Go for it. 

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/koechlin-the-jungle-book

http://www.classical-music.com/review/koechlin-3

http://www.amazon.com/Koechlin-Jungle-Book-David-Zinman/dp/B00000E6Q8

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Charles Koechlin (27 November 1867 – 31 December 1950) was a French composer, teacher and writer on music. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars (especially Lilian Harvey and Ginger Rogers), traveling, stereoscopic photography and socialism. Koechlin was enormously prolific. Despite his lack of worldly success, Koechlin was apparently a loved and venerated figure in French music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Koechlin

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David Zinman (born 9 July 1936 in New York City, United States) is an American conductor and violinist. He worked in Maine with Pierre Monteux from 1958 to 1962, serving as his assistant from 1961 to 1964. Zinman has been Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, and Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and was Artistic Director of the Aspen Music Festival, where he created the International Conducting Academy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Zinman
http://www.davidzinman.org/

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