L'arbre Des Songes/la Mer/la Valse (Jansons, Rco)

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
RCO 08001; RCO LIVE - Olanda; Classica Orchestrale

REVIEW
Mariss Jansons has already demonstrated an affinity with Francophone music in his earlier RCO Live disc of Poulenc and Honegger. Here the fare is purely French, with a trio of soundscapes encompassing the sea, dreams and Viennese decadence.

But he does not treat this music with kid gloves: Jansons has the courage to explore the darkness behind the Gallic sophistication. So the fierceness of the spray is almost palpable in Debussy's La Mer, and there is menace in the way Ravel's La Valse whirls towards its conclusion.

The Concertgebouw Orchestra has the subtlety of colouring to bring something of its own to the music, from the pastel-edged tints of its solo woodwind to the velvety warmth of its strings and the edge of its brass. Last but not least, Dmitry Sitkovetsky explores the dreamland of Dutilleux's "violin concerto" with insight to match the composer's glistening orchestral writing. --Matthew Rye, Daily Telegraph, 26 April 2008

The standout performance here is of L'Arbre des songes, Henri Dutilleux's Violin Concerto written for Isaac Stern in 1985. It's one of those late 20th-century works that is both polyglot and highly individual. Soloist Dmitry Sitkovetsky and conductor Mariss Jansons respond sensitively to a stream of enriched and enriching sensuality, which even embraces a midstream reference to the mechanics of tuning up within its organic growth. Jansons's account of Debussy's La mer is meticulous but somehow contained, as if the conductor is too reluctant to let the music surge. The intentionally over-the-top luxuriance of Ravel's La valse is conveyed with rather greater success. --MICHAEL DERVAN, Irish Times, 9 May 2008

Number of Discs: 1

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