Dutilleux Violin Concerto etc
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Jehan (Ariste) Alain, Henri Dutilleux
Label: Chandos
Magazine Review Date: 11/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 58
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CHAN9504
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, '(L')arbre des |
Henri Dutilleux, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Henri Dutilleux, Composer Olivier Charlier, Violin Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor |
| Timbres, espace, mouvement |
Henri Dutilleux, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Henri Dutilleux, Composer Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor |
| (2) Sonnets de Jean Cassou |
Henri Dutilleux, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Henri Dutilleux, Composer Neal Davies, Baritone Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor |
| Prière pour nous autres charnels, 'Praise for we |
Jehan (Ariste) Alain, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Jehan (Ariste) Alain, Composer Martyn Hill, Tenor Neal Davies, Baritone Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor |
Author: Arnold Whittall
In welcoming Yan Pascal Tortelier’s first Dutilleux disc for Chandos (the two symphonies, 11/93) I expressed the hope that more would follow. Now it has, with a programme that neatly complements the relatively early symphonies with two substantial later works.
Timbres, espace, mouvement (1978, revised 1991) can be counted Dutilleux’s best orchestral composition, at once rooted in tradition yet persistently sceptical about conventional ‘symphonic’ values. It’s a tricky score to bring off, and Tortelier is entirely successful in negotiating its twists and turns of form. The atmosphere is less extrovert than in Semyon Bychkov’s performance, and the BBC Philharmonic’s playing has an air of caution about it, at least when compared with that of the Orchestre de Paris on the Philips disc. Bychkov uncovers a more balletic subtext, more links with Ravel and Debussy, in this highly pictorial score, but for that very reason his reading may seem too theatrical, too cavalier with the music’s more symphonic subtleties. The Philips recording is also far brighter and bolder than the finely blended, delicately balanced Chandos sound. You could say that, if Bychkov misses some of the music’s mystery, Tortelier underplays its eccentricities. But both are very satisfying readings.
In the Violin Concerto (1985) Tortelier again favours a symphonic approach, and very effective it is too, with a soloist who is authoritative without any hint of counterproductive self-assertiveness. In the rival Decca recording Pierre Amoyal is more intense in tone, with a volatility from which all sense of effort has not been completely purged. Is the Charlier/Tortelier version too staid, or does this richly perfumed music demand a response that keeps its more flamboyant qualities under firmer control than that provided by the Decca team? Amoyal and Dutoit make the more immediate impact, but it could well be that Charlier and Tortelier prove more satisfying in the longer run.
The Chandos disc also includes Dutilleux’s orchestral arrangement of his Cassou settings, otherwise available only in the piano version with the two movements the other way round (Erato, 5/95), and also his orchestration, made in 1944, of Jehan Alain’s touching prayer. Well-characterized contributions from Martyn Hill and Neal Davies complete this valuable and recommendable release.'
In the Violin Concerto (1985) Tortelier again favours a symphonic approach, and very effective it is too, with a soloist who is authoritative without any hint of counterproductive self-assertiveness. In the rival Decca recording Pierre Amoyal is more intense in tone, with a volatility from which all sense of effort has not been completely purged. Is the Charlier/Tortelier version too staid, or does this richly perfumed music demand a response that keeps its more flamboyant qualities under firmer control than that provided by the Decca team? Amoyal and Dutoit make the more immediate impact, but it could well be that Charlier and Tortelier prove more satisfying in the longer run.
The Chandos disc also includes Dutilleux’s orchestral arrangement of his Cassou settings, otherwise available only in the piano version with the two movements the other way round (Erato, 5/95), and also his orchestration, made in 1944, of Jehan Alain’s touching prayer. Well-characterized contributions from Martyn Hill and Neal Davies complete this valuable and recommendable release.'
Dutilleux Violin Concerto etc
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Follow us
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.