Search - Wolff, Larmore, Spco :: Ballets

Crisp, Lively Performances of Crowd-Pleasing Favorites

Nicholas A. Deutsch | New York, NY USA | 01/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are impeccably played, dynamically conducted versions of 3 popular 20th century scores, very well recorded in bright, clear sound. There have been many versions of all 3 pieces, and I can't say how these stack up to alternative performances. Certainly one could argue that there's a slight air of all-purpose American efficiency to these ones which some people may count as a negative. But if you want this particular combination of pieces - and all 3 are delightful - I don't think you'll be disappointed.
The one rarity - all 4 minutes & 33 seconds of it! - is the "Chamber Fox Trot" by the great Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974). This is his orchestration of a 2-piano piece he wrote in the 1920s in his capacity as music director for a marionette theater in Paris, and it's a charmer, very much in the semi-satirical vein of Ravel's "L'Enfant et les Sortileges.""