Franck Symphonic

César Franck: Symphony / Igor Stravinsky: Pétrouchka
Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Boston Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Monteux
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,00 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,28 GB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Red Seal "Living Stereo" # 82876-67897-2 | Country/Year: Europe 2005, recorded 1959/1961
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Early 20th Century

"…An amazing SACD. As interpretations, both of these are in a class of their own, the Franck having strong claims of being the best ever performance of this greatest French late romantic orchestral work. Almost certainly they will never be equalled let alone bettered on SACD." ~SA-CD.net

Intensity of feeling and drama, joy of playing and energy: on its second album Symphonic Dances, the Cologne-based Xenon Saxophone Quartet presents a rich palette of emotions and a different facet of musical expression with each work. In the eponymous Symphonic Dances by Rachmaninoff, in which the quartet is expanded to include the pianist Sergey Markin, the five play to the full the "Russian soul" of Rachmaninoff. Their recording of Franck's Prélude, Fugue et Variation brings the almost mystical character of the work to life, and in Ligeti's Six Bagatelles, their profound avant-garde modernity becomes clear.

Intensity of feeling and drama, joy of playing and energy: on its second album Symphonic Dances, the Cologne-based Xenon Saxophone Quartet presents a rich palette of emotions and a different facet of musical expression with each work. In the eponymous Symphonic Dances by Rachmaninoff, in which the quartet is expanded to include the pianist Sergey Markin, the five play to the full the "Russian soul" of Rachmaninoff. Their recording of Franck's Prélude, Fugue et Variation brings the almost mystical character of the work to life, and in Ligeti's Six Bagatelles, their profound avant-garde modernity becomes clear.

With so many versions of the Symphony and the Symphonic Variations available, it's surprising that these two favourite orchestral works aren't coupled more often. Here Tortelier adds an attractive bonus in the evocative tone-poem Les Eolides.

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck continue their collaboration with Alpha and here invite one of the label’s flagship pianists, Nelson Goerner. The programme is devoted to Richard Strauss, coupling several of the German composer’s early works. The Burleske for piano and orchestra, written at the age of twenty, is brimming with lyricism and Romantic ardour; its tone colours herald Strauss’s operas, while the orchestration anticipates his symphonic poems. The piano part is exceptionally virtuosic: Hans von Bülow, for whom Strauss wrote it, called it unplayable! The Serenade for thirteen wind instruments harks back to Mozart’s Gran Partita K361 for similar forces. This brief work in a single movement begins in a nocturnal colouring, as befits a serenade, before growing more animated and finally returning to the contemplative atmosphere of the opening. The symphonic poem for large orchestra Tod und Verklärung depicts the last hour of an artist’s life: the listener is gripped from the very first bars, which evoke the breathing and heartbeats of a dying man. Strauss allows us to experience his final moments and the transfiguration of his soul in one of the most glorious moments in the symphonic repertoire.

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck continue their collaboration with Alpha and here invite one of the label’s flagship pianists, Nelson Goerner. The programme is devoted to Richard Strauss, coupling several of the German composer’s early works. The Burleske for piano and orchestra, written at the age of twenty, is brimming with lyricism and Romantic ardour; its tone colours herald Strauss’s operas, while the orchestration anticipates his symphonic poems. The piano part is exceptionally virtuosic: Hans von Bülow, for whom Strauss wrote it, called it unplayable! The Serenade for thirteen wind instruments harks back to Mozart’s Gran Partita K361 for similar forces.