Search - Cesar Franck, Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Monteux :: César Franck: Symphony in D Minor; Igor Stravinsky; Pétrouchka [Hybrid SACD]

Stunning Petrouchka!

T. Lenthe | West Chester, PA United States | 02/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Irrespective of SACD, the remastering is first rate. The Petrouchka is the most vivid and colorful I have ever heard. As the program notes state, Monteux conducted the premiere and clearly has unique insight into the music. This is a "must have" for any Stravinsky aficionado. Consider the Franck an extra bonus, but buy the disk (at a bonus price, to boot) for the Pretrouchka!"

Minor course correction

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 08/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Franck recording was state-of-the-art for its time and even today vintage RCA recordings from this era are stand-outs. The SACD is terrific. I'm bewildered anyone would find the sound quality bad or, worse, dismiss the works of engineers of that era who often got spectacular results even in mono! Perhaps if ones ears are tuned entirely to technicolor Telarc stuff...



The Franck D-Minor, for reasons not quite obvious, is not wearing well with time and it's likely that it's one of those extremely Romantic works that needs a highly committed performance to bring it off well. I honestly haven't heard a modern (meaning last 40 years or so) performance that's done that--the temperament is of a wholly different age. However, a top-notch performance sells the work and you get it here, in the Munch recording with the BSO, with an old Silvestri recording from EMI, and with the classic Mengelberg that turns up in various incarnations.



As far as Monteux doing any Stravinsky goes there's no discussion. He got to the heart (and I mean heart) of these works, totally demolishing the myth that Stravinsky was a cold composer."

Best Franck

Henry Schlinger | Los Angeles, CA United States | 10/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Monteux's interpretation of the Franck D minor Symphony is unparalleled. The tempo, phrasing, and dynamics are perfect. Even though the last eleven bars of the first movement are already triple forte (fff), and even though there is no notation by the composer, Monteux pushes it even louder in the last full bar. It's very powerful.



Not only is the interpretation the best, but the sound quality of this recording (recorded in 1961) is outstanding.



This is THE version of the Franck D minor Symphony to own."