Vincent d'Indy - Orchestral Works Vol. 6 (Rumon Gamba)

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Composer: Vincent d'Indy

1. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Première Partie. Le Camp di Wallenstein: Allegro giusto
2. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Première Partie. Le Camp di Wallenstein: Allegretto moderato e giocoso
3. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Deuxième Partie. Max et Thécla (Les Piccolomini): Andante
4. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Deuxième Partie. Max et Thécla (Les Piccolomini): Allegro risoluto
5. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Deuxième Partie. Max et Thécla (Les Piccolomini): Andante tranquillo
6. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Deuxième Partie. Max et Thécla (Les Piccolomini): Maestoso
7. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Troisième Partie. La Mort de Wallenstein: Très large
8. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Troisième Partie. La Mort de Wallenstein: Allegro
9. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Troisième Partie. La Mort de Wallenstein: Andante tranquillo
10. Wallenstein, Op. 12 - Troisième Partie. La Mort de Wallenstein: Maestoso (Tempo I)
11. Fervaal, opera, Op. 40: Prelude to Act III
12. Lied for cello & orchestra, Op. 19
13. Suite dans le style ancien in D major, Op. 24: I. Prélude. Lent
14. Suite dans le style ancien in D major, Op. 24: II. Entrée. Gai et modéré
15. Suite dans le style ancien in D major, Op. 24: III. Sarabande. Lent
16. Suite dans le style ancien in D major, Op. 24: IV. Menuet. Animé
17. Suite dans le style ancien in D major, Op. 24: V. Ronde francaise. Assez animé
18. Sérénade et Valse for orchestra, Op. 28: Sérénade. Allegretto giocoso (orch. from Op. 16 No. 1)
19. Sérénade et Valse for orchestra, Op. 28: Valse. Allegro molto moderato (orch. from Op. 17 No. 1)

Bryndís Halla Gylfadóttir, cello (12)
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Rumon Gamba, conductor

Date: 2015
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205157

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Review

Rumon Gamba’s d’Indy series – this is the final instalment – has done much to illuminate the complexities surrounding one of fin de siècle music’s more controversial figures. D’Indy, like Wagner, was both progressive and reactionary, and our image of the forward-looking teacher – his pupils included Roussel, Albéniz, Varèse and Cole Porter – still squares uneasily with the reality of the right-wing anti-Dreyfusard ideologue, obsessed with ideas of national identity and ethnic superiority. Influential in his lifetime, his music has an eclectic, pivotal feel, overtly synthesising influences in order to explore new possibilities.

The main work here is Wallenstein, completed in 1879, a symphonic trilogy based on Schiller, usually described as a response to The Ring, which d’Indy heard at Bayreuth in 1876. A variant of Wagner’s sword motif characterises the titular hero, a treacherous army officer trapped Wotan-like in schemes of his own devising. Yet the melodic contours suggest the predominant influence of Berlioz; the cyclic form derives from Franck; and a weird chordal sequence depicting the superstitious Wallenstein’s astrological consultations startlingly prefigures the Nietzsche setting in Mahler’s Third Symphony.

Elsewhere, we find comparable links and overtones. The 1897 opera Fervaal is indebted to Parsifal, its Act 3 Prelude pivoting back to Klingsor’s incantations and forward to Pelléas. Suite dans le style ancien is not so much a work of Rococo pastiche as an astringent intimation of 20th-century neo-classicism. The beautiful Lied for cello and orchestra invites comparisons with Massenet, a rival of whom d’Indy was not particularly fond.

Gamba’s conducting evinces the care and thought characteristic of the retrospective as a whole. There’s an admirable awareness of the crafted sensuousness of d’Indy’s textures, the slightly studied novelty of his compositional style. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra’s brass glare a bit, though the playing is judiciously honed. Cellist Bryndís Halla Gylfadóttir sounds very svelte in the Lied. D’Indy’s reabsorption into the mainstream is a questionable prospect at best. But the series forcefully reminds us of his achievement and importance.

-- Tim Ashley, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/June/Indy_orchestral_v6_CHSA5157.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Jul/Indy_orchestral_v6_CHSA5157.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Aug/Indy_orchestral_v6_CHSA5157.htm
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=13189
http://www.amazon.com/Vincent-dIndy-Orchestral-Works-Vol/dp/B00UUXSVA8

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Vincent d'Indy (27 March 1851 – 2 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. He was a student of César Franck at the Conservatoire de Paris. Inspired by his own studies with Franck and dissatisfied with the standard of teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris, d'Indy, together with Charles Bordes and Alexandre Guilmant, founded the Schola Cantorum de Paris in 1894. His students included Isaac Albéniz, Arthur Honegger, Albéric Magnard, Darius Milhaud, Albert Roussel, Erik Satie and many more. As a composer, d'Indy's best known works are probably his Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français and Istar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_d'Indy

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Rumon Gamba (born 24 November 1972), is an English conductor. He studied conducting with Colin Metters, George Hurst and Sir Colin Davis at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Gamba was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra from 2002 to 2010. In October 2008, he was named the next chief conductor and music director of NorrlandsOperan. In March 2011, Gamba was named chief conductor of the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra. Gamba has conducted a number of recordings for the Chandos Records label, particularly in their Film Music series.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumon_Gamba

http://www.rumongamba.com/

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