ELAN

01/01/2012
Henry Fogel
Fanfare (US)

If the music you listen to must always be profoundly moving, earth-shattering, or angst-ridden, this is definitely not the disc for you. There is none of the horror of the Stain era or of war that one might hear in the music of Shostakovich, nor the religious mysticism of a Bruckner Adagio. This is instead an extremely pleasant recording of extremely pleasant music, beautifully performed and recorded.

To say that these operas are not well known is to understate the matter, and I know of no collection of all of this ballet music on disc prior to this. It would be hard to imagine better performances. This is music that requires a balance between energy and elegance, and Guillaume Tourniaire and his orchestra bring it off perfectly. There is a clarity of texture without sacrifice of warmth and richness of color – not at all easy to achieve.

There is not much more to say – a disc of rarely heard and lovely music, exquisitely performed and recorded with sound that balances warmth and clarity perfectly. Add excellent, informative notes and you have a winner.