Gathered here are two masterpieces of late 19th-century French orchestral music. Cesar Franck's Symphony in D minor (1888) is his only symphony. Drawing its lineage from later Beethoven and Schumann, it's very cohesive and its themes are quite distinct, remaining quite popular. Vincent d'Indy's Symphonie su un chant montagnard francais (1886) is a very efficient fusion of a symphony with a piano concerto. The themes are supple yet smoothly integrated into a three-movement tapestry that has also never seen its popularity fade. Many versions of these exist on disc, but Charles Dutoit seems to have a better feel than most.
One might be forgiven for thinking Beatles Baroque III by Les Boréades would actually sound Baroque, as it and two previous volumes are billed, but such is not the case. Even though this Canadian early music ensemble has impressive credentials, and plays the repertoire from Frescobaldi to C.P.E. Bach with aplomb, its performances on this disc are overwhelmingly modern in feeling and not too far removed from the actual music produced by the Beatles and George Martin in the 1960s.
The first of these pieces, Ma Mere l'Oye, was originally composed just for the piano. However the astute publisher, Durand, recognized their orchestral potential and the impresario Jacques Rouche realized the choreographic possibilities and encouraged Ravel to expand and orchestrate the music. The result was "a vision of magical stillness and rapture" and became highly successful. The Pavane was also an early work of Ravel from 1899 written for the solo piano. This orchestral version with Ravel's "mature mastery of sound-colours" was done some eleven years later. La Tombeau de Couperin was Ravel's last solo piano work.
This limited edition box set includes 35 sonic spectacular albums from the early golden age of digital when Decca’s engineers created a new DECCA SOUND. This set is a celebration of the nearly 25-year partnership between conductor Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Highlights include recordings of Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Bizet, Respighi, Stravinsky, Holst, Debussy and much more.
This limited edition box set includes 35 sonic spectacular albums from the early golden age of digital when Decca’s engineers created a new DECCA SOUND. This set is a celebration of the nearly 25-year partnership between conductor Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Highlights include recordings of Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Bizet, Respighi, Stravinsky, Holst, Debussy and much more. This box coincides with Dutoit’s much anticipated return to Montréal after nearly 15 years. 2016 also marks the return of Decca recording in Montreal in their brand new Symphony hall with rare repertoire in a new association with Kent Nagano.
Newly remastered versions of the live album. The tour’s innovative set and marriage of music and theatre has been cited as a big inspiration to acts in the 2000’s. Speaking in 1991 about Glass Spider, Bowie said, “It was the first time I'd had the opportunity to spend that kind of money and do shows like that! The first time since Diamond Dogs, anyway … I thought, Right! Let's really spend some money! I had all these thwarted dreams of what I'd tried to do with rock 'n roll in the early '70s”.