Dvoark Serenade

This entry in mail-order firm Collectors' Choice Music's series of reissues of Nat King Cole albums pairs two instrumental collections he recorded in the 1950s. In its original form as a 10," eight-song LP, Penthouse Serenade, recorded on July 18, 1952, found Cole returning to the small-band format of his jazz playing days in an ensemble that featured him on piano, John Collins on guitar, Charles Harris on bass, and Bunny Shawker on drums (with Jack Costanzo joining in on bongos and conga on "Rose Room," "Once in a Blue Moon," and "Down by the Old Mill Stream"). Three years later, on July 14, 1955, Cole re-entered the studio to cut another four songs so that the album could be reissued as a 12-song, 12" LP. Two songs each were added to the ends of the two sides of the album.

Bright, stylish, and lovely, Pamela Frank's recordings of Mozart's five Violin Concertos with David Zinman conducting the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra are surely among the best since Arthur Grumiaux's classic recordings with Colin Davis and the London Symphony of half a century ago. Frank's tone is lean but supple, her intonation is warm but pure, and her technique is second to none. Better yet, Frank's interpretations are ideally balanced between controlled intensity and singing expressivity, the balance that is the essence of Mozart's art. Zinman's accompaniments are themselves ideally balanced between supporting Frank and challenging her.

Albert Roussel (1869-1937) a vingt-cinq ans, en 1894, lorsqu’il renonce à une carrière toute tracée d’officier de marine (il a navigué jusqu’en Cochinchine et aux Indes) pour entamer de sérieuses études musicales : il s’installe à Paris, prend des leçons auprès d’Eugène Gigout, puis devient l’élève de Vincent d’Indy à la Schola Cantorum. La maîtrise du contrepoint qu’il y acquiert (puis enseigne) n’assèche en rien une inspiration aussi personnelle que colorée. Joyau de son oeuvre pour orchestre, la Suite en fa (1926) est emblématique d’une écriture vigoureuse : Paul Paray élance les lignes anguleuses du Prélude comme personne (et quels cuivres !), rend à la Gigue ses sonorités de kermesse, équilibre souplesse et ferveur dans la Sarabande.