Suite Pastorale Chabrier

Jordan catches particularly well the immediacy of expression of these delightful pieces; note the force and amplitude of the conclusions to ''Danse villageois'' and the ''Scherzo-Valse''. He does excellently, too, in what Cortot described as ''the truculent flavour, unbuttoned and cheeky exuberance'' of Espana, and in the ''Danse slave'' from Le roi malgre lui, a quite similar piece.

Chabrier remains poorly known and very little recognized by the French public. And listening to these recordings, we wonder why! Yet, this composer, a true alchemist of instrumental timbres, embodies the quintessence of the French spirit in music: freshness and delicacy of melodic inspiration, subtle humor in the treatment of his harmonization, orchestration of a wealth of colors and nuances unusual, great elegance of style. These qualities, or even these virtues, are perfectly illustrated in the "Pastoral Suite" which opens this record in a light atmosphere mingled with sweet melancholy and rustic joy. Of course, you can not escape the tube "España". But how to sulk his pleasure when it is the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra itself that sets fire to the powders!?! Throughout this record, John Eliot Gardiner takes advantage of the splendid sound of Viennese in the service of this music more elaborate than it seems.

– David Waléra

Bizet & Chabrier - Orchestral Works - Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth (2008) {Mirare Official Digital Download MIR036}
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© 2008 Mirare | MIR 036
Classical / Romantic / Orchestral

The French conductor François-Xavier Roth was born in France in 1971 and studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique. In October 2000 he won joint first prize at the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London, following which he was appointed for two seasons assistant conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra. From 2000 to 2002 he was also assistant conductor with the Caen Orchestra. In 2003 François-Xavier Roth created the chamber orchestra Les Siècles (The Centuries), combining period and modern instruments, an orchestra which covers a vast repertoire from Baroque to contemporary music.

175 years ago, on March 28th 1842, Otto Nicolai raised the baton for the first ever concert of a new ensemble destined to become one of the world's great orchestras. The Wiener Philharmoniker 175th Anniversary Edition offers a hand-picked selection on 44 CDs of the best albums of the orchestra released on the label. Presented in a luxury box with matt lamination and hot-foil printed gold, the box includes original cover art, rare photographs from the Wiener Philharmoniker Archives as well as two new essays by Dr. Silvia Kargl, Head of the Historic Archive of the Vienna Philharmonic, and Richard Evidon. With a Bonus DVD of the famous 1989 New Year's Concert conducted by Carlos Kleiber.

For 30 years Michel Plasson has recorded French music exclusively for EMI Classics. This exclusive box is truly unique as it covers all the masterpieces of French repertoire: concertos by Ravel, Fauré's Requiem, Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, Bizet's only symphony, L'Arlesienne; Lalo's Symphony; etc . . .

For 30 years Michel Plasson has recorded French music exclusively for EMI Classics. This exclusive box is truly unique as it covers all the masterpieces of French repertoire: concertos by Ravel, Fauré's Requiem, Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, Bizet's only symphony, L'Arlesienne; Lalo's Symphony; etc . . .

Ultimate Classical Chill Out: The Essential Masterpieces basically delivers what it promises: a large selection of mellow classical music appropriate for unobtrusive background listening. The pieces are from a variety of genres, including orchestral, symphonic, vocal, chamber, and keyboard music. Most are gently lyrical and are from the Romantic and post-Romantic periods, but there are also pieces from the Baroque, Classical, and Modern eras. The performances come from Decca's extensive archive and are consistently top-notch in quality, and the notes identify the performers of each piece. The sound ambience varies somewhat from track to track, but it is never less than very good. This five-disc set with over six hours of music is a good bargain for anyone looking for a broad assortment of quiet classical pieces.

Today we take high fidelity sound quality for granted, but how did it start? When was the moment when compressed and scratchy sound gave way to natural, realistic sound that captured the whole picture of a performance? Decca Sound ‘Mono Years’ seeks to answer that question and shows how, 70 years ago, amidst war-time privations, a small team at Decca made technological breakthroughs that brought hi-fi to the world. This latest cube explores Decca’s earliest high-fidelity history, and restores some restores critically acclaimed albums from ensembles such as the Trio di Trieste, Quintetto Chigiano and Griller Quartet which have not been available since their original LP release more than sixty years ago. An equally impressive array of soloists includes pianists Clifford Curzon, Julius Katchen, Friedrich Gulda and Moura Lypmany and violinists Ruggiero Ricci and Alfredo Campoli. Several generations of cellists are represented with recordings by Pierre Fournier, Maurice Gendron and Zara Nelsova.

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.