Le loup

"We are treated here to works conjured from non-orchestral parts of Dutilleux's catalogue. In this case we have three modern orchestrations by Kenneth Hesketh of short earlier chamber works ... As so often, I am in a minority of one in having reservations about the otherwise wonderful John Wilson ... In the case of this Dutilleux CD there are no such reservations ... Limpid, beguiling music and music-making".

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"Editor's choice - May 2021: Listening to this shimmeringly sexy, deliciously macabre account of Dutilleux's 1953 ballet, it's difficult to fathom why the piece isn't better known and loved: think Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye shot through with echoes of Peter and the Wolf. The strings are particularly magical in the Boudoir and Forest episodes, and flautist Adam Walker (who also shines in Kenneth Hesketh's orchestration of the Sonatine for flute) contributes some beguiling solos".

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"This music might play it safe harmonically but Dutilleux splashes orchestral timbres around with the abandon of an action painter, as blood-curdling swoops from an ondes martenot add local colour. Pascal Rophé and his Orchestra National des Pays de la Loire take these scores at face value, carving through notes with flamboyant cliffhanger urgency".

"The main work on John WIlson's new Dutilleux disc is the 1953 ballet Le Loup ... It's a curious work in some respects ... Few condutors haev consequently been drawn to it, and its outings on disc are rare, so Wilson's recording is more than welcome. As one might expect, it's flawlessly done, scrupulously paced and played, with Dutilleux's often extraordinary colours and textures beautifully explored".