Music / opera

Orchestral works vol. 5


Reviews (19)


The guardian

d. 19. Aug. 2015

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By

Andrew Clements (musikanmelder)

d. 19. Aug. 2015

"It's [L'Enfant et les Sortilèges.] a performance of remarkable assurance, beautifully recorded with scarcely any extraneous stage noise, and every texture and instrumental detail perfectly placed and meticulously realised by the fabulous hand-picked Saito Kinen Orchestra ... Ravel's song cycle Shéhérazade, recorded at Matsumoto in 2009 with Susan Graham as the mezzo soloist, makes a suitably sumptuous pairing".


The guardian

d. 18. May 2017

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By

Andrew Clements (musikanmelder)

d. 18. May 2017

"Mikko Franck's performance [of L'Enfant Prodigue] ... is vivid enough, but inevitably it's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges that makes the bigger impression. In this jewel-like work in which not a note is wasted, it's a huge advantage to have an entirely Francophone cast, and every word certainly matters here ... Franck ... certainly gets superb orchestral playing from the Radio France orchestra".


MusicWeb international

2017 June

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Paul Corfield Godfrey

2017 June

"A number of the recordings fail to realise the sense of passion which emerges ... There is no such problem here with the warm-voiced Annick Massis ... Many other sections blossom in his hands [L'enfant et les sortilèges] ... [In] Ravel's complete ballet Mother Goose ... again the conductor and his players show a lively awareness of the internal balance of the instrumentation".


Berlingske tidende

d. 26. Mar. 2009

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Søren Schauser

d. 26. Mar. 2009

"Vel fejler spillet i Ravels tre kvarter korte "L'enfant et les sortilèges" ikke noget. Men rollen som det meget fantasifulde barn skulle absolut synges af sopranen Magdalena Kozená alias fru Rattle - og dét virker hun ikke rigtig i stemning til ... Pladens version af "Min gåsemor" ligger derimod helt i top. Dyrk detaljerne, farverne, hele dybden. Faktisk fås den næppe bedre!".


Politiken

d. 14. Apr. 2009

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By

Henrik Friis (f. 1978)

d. 14. Apr. 2009

"Ravels anden og yderst sjældne opera "Barnet og dæmonerne" bliver spidset til skarpe pointer og kantet galskab i hænder og munde på Berlins bedste folk ... De medvirkende leverer helt igennem overbevisende præstationer i det sære setup, og man bliver ret automatisk fortaler for en snarlig opsætning her til lands".


Jyllands-posten

d. 29. Jan. 2010

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John Christiansen

d. 29. Jan. 2010

"En live-optagelse fra Berlin viser Simon Rattle i sprudlende topform med sine Berliner Philharmoniker og store sangere i små roller".


Kristeligt dagblad

d. 1. Apr. 2009

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By

Jakob Holm

d. 1. Apr. 2009

"Barnet synges af Magdalena Kozená, og de andre roller er også besat af kapable kræfter, men jeg savner ikke desto mindre en bedre balance mellem dem og orkestret. Og så kommer selve operaen også efter ganske få gennemlytninger - på trods af de interessante klangfarver - til at virke en smule for sentimental og fjollet. Cd'ens andet værk, Ma Mère l'Oye ... har forbløffende mange detaljer, og det sofistikerede og umiddelbare går som altid hos Ravel hånd i hånd i en fortolkning, hvor Rattle og Berlinerfilharmonikere lever op til deres renommé og giver melodierne lov til at folde sig ud i perfekte tempi".


Diapason

2015 novembre

By

By

François Laurent

2015 novembre


BBC music magazine

2015 December

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Roger Nichols (musikanmelder)

2015 December

"Isabel Leonard's voice is really too richly feminine. The best singing comes from Anna Christy ... and from the very experienced Fouchecourt ... Not surprisingly in a concert performance of this very tricky score, not everything is in place [L'enfant] ... Susan Graham has absolutely the right voice for this music and knows it well. Her French is fine and I'm delighted she respects Ravel's carefully notated vocal slides (Sheherazade]".


BBC music magazine

2017 July

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Anna Picard

2017 July

"Stuttgart's players excel, whether in the sexy trombone-led absurdity of the foxtrot, or the pregnant stillness of the garden. The choral singing is shapely in 'Adieu, pastourelles!' and 'Il est bon, l'enfant' and the journey of Camille Poul's Child from fury to confusion, beguilement, fear and remorse is beautifully observed".


Diapason

2017 juin

By

By

François Laurent

2017 juin


BBC music magazine

2009 April

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Christopher Dingle

2009 April

"Despite much beautiful singing and some georgeous playing, however, this newcomer falls short of Maazel's classic accout never mind Bour's historic recording".


Klassisk

2017, nr. 46

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By

Mikael Garnæs

2017, nr. 46

"Den franske radios symfoniorkester med deres finske chefdirigent Mikko Franck har lavet en fin udgave med skarpt orkesterspil og et glimrende ensemble af sangere ... Ravels opera kobles med to ungdomsværker af Debussy ... hæderligt sunget, men så heller ikke mere".


BBC music magazine

2017 August

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Roger Nichols (musikanmelder)

2017 August

"The performance of the Ravel is on a wholly superior level ... Chloé Briot is well contrasted with the excellent Nathalie Stutzmann as Maman and two other characters, while Sabine Devielhe as The Fire and François Piolino as Mr Arithmetic are first class. In the orchestra, every note is in place - no small achievement in this fiendishly difficult piece.".


Fono Forum

2017 August

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Giselher Schubert

2017 August

"Maurice Ravel schuf mit seiner Fantaisie lyrique ... eine hinreissende Oper ... Mikko Franck gestaltet sie mit einem vorzüglichen solistenensemble ... Die Interpreten geben dem Stück wohl einen leichten, unangestrengten Ton, ohne es jedoch leichtgewichtig wirken zu lassen ... Debussys frühe Kantate L'Enfant Prodigue ... eingespielt ... hier mit grossem Engagement und Intesität ... auf welch hohem Niveau!".


Diapason

2017 mai

By

By

François Laurent

2017 mai


The gramophone

2015 September

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Richard Lawrence

2015 September

"Isabel Leonard makes a believable Child, from the tantrums at the start to the pity, sympathy and loneliness of the ending ... A special bouquet to Marie Lenormand and Elliot Madore as the cats, whose mewing ios particularly accurate ... Susan Graham, like Ozawa, is at home in the French repertoire ... and she is magically sensuous in Shéhérazade ... An enjoyable disc".


The gramophone

2017 August

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Mark Pullinger

2017 August

"From the intertwined oboes in the prelude to L'enfant, Denève yet again proves himself an exceptionally fine conductor of French repertoire ... Some of the singing is a little under-characterised ... Still, with the Stuttgart orchestra slinking through the teapot/china-cup foxtrot with such panache, it's difficult to resist this fresh account ... An affectionate disc to appeal to the child in us all".


The gramophone

2017 June

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By

Mark Pullinger

2017 June

"The casting [in the Ravel] is very strong, with bags of character, from Nathalie Stutzmann's molasses contralto as Maman ... to François Piolino's demented Arithmétique and feisty teapot ... Chloé Briot kicks up a storm as the Child ... Franck's cast is even more luxurious than for the Ravel. Karina Gauvin, as Lia the mother, reins in her powerful soprano for a moving opening air, while Roberto Alagna's open-hearted, sunny tenor and excellent diction make for the best Azaël now on disc".