FRENCH BONBONS
Things of the past? BILL NEWMAN listens to Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting
the BBC Philharmonic
CHANDOS CHAN 9765
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Who says that 'overture beginners' are things of the past? When Beecham
died, they quickly disappeared from concerts altogether, the more familiar
pattern of concerto (first half) - symphony (second half) becoming quite
enough for today's average audience to absorb in one go. Record companies
saw their consumers in a different light - group all the party-pieces together,
and you have a commercial winner.
I
know of no other living conductor than Tortelier who can ring the changes
in French repertoire. Paray's sheer panache in his late seventies and Sir
Thomas's graceful 'flick of the wrist' phrase turns apart, Tortelier has
his father's charisma for creating exactly the right atmosphere in a programme
of delights that will charm and excite lovers of great melodies, expertly
orchestrated, full of contrasts. Playing 'by the score', Hérold's
Zampa Overture springs into action, and his astute judgement of orchestral
timbres in Thomas' Mignon even leaves Toscanini at the starting post.
Hearing the Gavotte from that opera left my colleagues wondering who the
composer was! [Listen - track 5, 00:16 - 01:07.]
Adam's delectable Si j'étais roi [listen
- track 6, 00:55 - 01:45], and those wonderful barn-stormers by Auber
- Le Cheval de bronze, Offenbach - La belle Hélène,
all benefit from strict tempi and keen observance of dynamics. The relative
stranger is Aimé Louis Maillart's Overture to Les Dragon de Villars,
which Richard Bonynge recorded back in 1966, its imperious gait reminding
me of Henry Seton Merriman's Balarsch of the Guard [listen
- track 12, 01:48 - 02:44].
TV viewers associate Gounod's Marche funèbre d'une marionette
with the gloomy Alfred Hitchcock, but Massenet's Le dernier sommeil de
la Vierge (a Beecham lollipop), Elégie (Peter Dixon, cello)
and Méditation from Thaïs (Yuri Torchinsky, with
chorus) have section leaders blending with orchestral colleagues, Offenbach's
famous Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann - also featuring
a section of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir. Two contrasting pieces
by Chabrier complete the bill - the sultry Habanera and effervescent
Joyeuse marche. Studio 7, Manchester means first-rate sound, and
you could slot the entire contents into the second half of a Prom, leaving
everyone present with smiles on their faces.
Copyright © 7 June 2000 Bill Newman,
Edgware, UK
PURCHASE FROM AMAZON
PURCHASE FROM CROTCHET
CD INFORMATION - CHANDOS CHAN 9765
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