Henri Dutilleux - Symphony No. 1; etc. (Jean-Claude Casadesus)

Information

Composer: Henri Dutilleux

• (01) Symphony No. 1
• (05) Métaboles
• (10) Les Citations

Orchestre National de Lille
Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor

Date: 2018
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573746

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

Not many conductors get to take multiple shots at Dutilleux’s exuberantly glowing First Symphony. Jean-Claude Casadesus first recorded the work a few decades ago for Forlane, if memory serves, with this same orchestra. That was a good performance, but this remake is just terrific. The orchestra has improved, and so has the engineering, which permits Casadesus to concentrate on capturing the vibrant textures of the outer movements (the finale especially), as well as the poignant lyricism of the third movement Intermezzo, with particular success.

He’s just as successful in Métaboles–a swift, confident, ideally flowing interpretation that really does convey a sense of organic growth from one section to the next. Once we get to the “Flamboyant” finale, we are shocked to discover that the journey has only lasted a bit more than sixteen minutes. There’s a lot of musical content here packed into a very small space, but this is one of those performances that immerses  you in Dutilleux’s personal sound world and operates with its own internal sense of time. It’s hypnotic.

Les Citations is an odd, bittersweet, lyrical little work in two movements scored for oboe, harpsichord, and percussion. As the title suggests, the piece quotes music by other composers, including Britten, Janequin, and Jehan Alain, but you’d be hard pressed to notice. It makes a fitting encore to the two larger pieces, and rounds out a superb program in every way.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH
http://www.classicalmusicsentinel.com/KEEP/keep-dutilleux-symphony.html
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.573746&languageid=EN

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Henri Dutilleux (2 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer. His work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Albert Roussel, but in an idiosyncratic style. Some of his notable compositions include a piano sonata, two symphonies, a cello concerto, a violin concerto and a string quartet. Some of these are regarded as masterpieces of 20th-century classical music. A perfectionist with a strong sense of artistic integrity, he allowed only a small number of his works to be published and often repeatedly revised them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Dutilleux

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Jean-Claude Casadesus (born 7 December 1935 in Paris) is a French conductor, the son of actress Gisèle Casadesus and her husband Lucien Pascal. He began his career as a percussionist before studying composition and conducting with Pierre Dervaux and Pierre Boulez. In 1969 he was hired as assistant conductor at the Paris Opéra and the Opéra-Comique. In 1971 he co-founded the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire with Pierre Dervaux, and acted as Dervaux's deputy. From 1976 to 2016 he was principal conductor of the Orchestre national de Lille, performing concerts locally and internationally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Casadesus

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