Gounod Symphonies Nos 1 & 2; Faust - Ballet Music
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Charles-François Gounod
Label: Classics
Magazine Review Date: 9/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 74
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 462 125-2PH
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Symphony No. 1 |
Charles-François Gounod, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Charles-François Gounod, Composer Neville Marriner, Conductor |
| Symphony No. 2 |
Charles-François Gounod, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Charles-François Gounod, Composer Neville Marriner, Conductor |
| Faust, Movement: BALLET MUSIC |
Charles-François Gounod, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Charles-François Gounod, Composer Neville Marriner, Conductor |
Author: Lionel Salter
Gounod’s image as the composer of sentimental and sanctimonious works dies hard with the general public (and with record executives) to the exclusion of his music in lighter vein – we haven’t had a new Philemon et Baucis for about 35 years, and the delightful Medecin malgre lui is a conspicuous absentee from the Gramophone Database. But his symphonies, elegantly crafted with a Gallic delicacy, may come as a surprise to anyone who does not know them. There have in fact been two very successful recordings – by Plasson and his Toulouse players, and Lubbock with his St John’s orchestra – but when it comes to verve, precision and virtuosity (noticeably called for in the finale of the First Symphony) the present team are more than a match for anybody.
Symphony No. 1 has been called Haydnesque, most pertinently in the so-called Scherzo, whose non troppo presto marking approximates it more to a minuet or Landler, especially in its rustic trio; and vivacity is the hallmark of the outer movements (the first written at the age of 25, a dozen years before the rest). The work’s spryness and structure had a big effect on Bizet, who made a piano duet version of it and was thereby stimulated to write his own delectable symphony. No. 2 starts off with rather more earnest intentions, and its Scherzo (a real one this time) could claim Beethoven as godparent, but Gounod shows a light touch in the Larghetto, in which the two contrasting themes are eventually combined, and in the finale reverts to his most sparkling and frothy manner.
For all its melodiousness and suitability for the dancers, the Faust ballet music included as a makeweight is more conventional, but Marriner and the ASMF, by lavishing every care on it, make it appear better than it intrinsically is.'
Symphony No. 1 has been called Haydnesque, most pertinently in the so-called Scherzo, whose non troppo presto marking approximates it more to a minuet or Landler, especially in its rustic trio; and vivacity is the hallmark of the outer movements (the first written at the age of 25, a dozen years before the rest). The work’s spryness and structure had a big effect on Bizet, who made a piano duet version of it and was thereby stimulated to write his own delectable symphony. No. 2 starts off with rather more earnest intentions, and its Scherzo (a real one this time) could claim Beethoven as godparent, but Gounod shows a light touch in the Larghetto, in which the two contrasting themes are eventually combined, and in the finale reverts to his most sparkling and frothy manner.
For all its melodiousness and suitability for the dancers, the Faust ballet music included as a makeweight is more conventional, but Marriner and the ASMF, by lavishing every care on it, make it appear better than it intrinsically is.'
Gounod Symphonies Nos 1 & 2; Faust - Ballet Music
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.