Paul Dukas - Goetz de Berlichingen; Le Roi Lear; Symphony (Fabrice Bollon)

Information

Composer: Paul Dukas

1. Goetz de Berlichingen, Ouverture après Goethe
2. Le Roi Lear, Ouverture après Shakespeare
3. Symphony in C major: I. Allegro non troppo vivace, ma con fuoco
4. Symphony in C major: II. Andante espressivo e sostenuto
5. Symphony in C major: III. Allegro spiritoso

Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen

Fabrice Bollon, conductor

Date: 2008

Label: Sterling

https://www.sterlingcd.com/catalogue/cds1074.html

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

This is a very interesting release that all lovers of Dukas and of 19th-century French music will want to own as a matter of course. The two early (1880s) overtures may not be great music, but they do provide major insights into the development of Dukas’ personal style. Indeed, if you compare them to the few surviving works that we know, you would never guess the identity of the composer.

Although called “overtures”, these are in fact symphonic poems of substantial length (16 and 22 minutes, respectively). Goetz de Berlichingen, after Goethe, is rather noisy, thickly scored, and relentlessly four-square. It’s almost a Wagner parody. King Lear has far more contrast and nuance, as well as a surfeit of chromatic harmony that creates lots of gloomy atmosphere. As I said, neither work is a masterpiece, but they show talent. It was fun to hear them and it’s nice to have them available, particularly in these unquestionably committed performances. It may be that greater familiarity with the scores would have permitted more variety in terms of dynamics, but the fine performance of the symphony shows that the faults here largely lie with the composer and not with the players.

Speaking of which, the Symphony in C really is a masterpiece, if a little-known one, full of memorable tunes and far more judiciously scored than the two early overtures. Conductor Fabrice Bollon does a particularly fine job keeping the music pressing forward in the agitated outer movements, letting the brass section strut its stuff in those fanfare motives that foreshadow the world of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. If the central slow movement bogs down a bit in a couple of places, it’s a minor issue within the context of the whole. As usual with SWR productions, the sonics are noteworthy for their warmth and naturalness. A very interesting release, to be sure.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

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Paul Dukas (1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His best known work is the orchestral piece The Sorcerer's Apprentice (L'apprenti sorcier), the fame of which has eclipsed that of his other surviving works. Among these are the opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue, a symphony, two substantial works for solo piano, and a ballet, La Péri. His compositions were influenced by composers including Beethoven, Berlioz, Franck, d'Indy and Debussy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dukas

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Fabrice Bollon (born Paris, 1965) is a French conductor. He studied with Michael Gielen and Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Paris and at Salzburg’s Mozarteum, before completing his studies with Georges Prêtre and Mauricio Kagel. Bollon worked as musical assistant at Salzburg Festival until 1998, then as chief conductor of the Flanders’ Symphony Orchestra (1996-2000). Since 2009 he has been General Music Diretor/Chief conductor at Germany’s Theater Freiburg, and there the orchestra and the opera division have made an enormous step under his guidance. Fabrice Bollon is also an acclaimed composer.
http://www.fabricebollon.com/fabricebollon/Start.html

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