A disappointing issue
C. David Claris | Chapel Hill, NC | 02/10/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"As I am a great admirer and collector of Ansermet performances, this release came as a shock. The symphony recorded in 1947 is dull interpretatively and strident sonically. The 1949 "Exsultate" with Janine Micheau is good but not outstanding; she struggles some with the coloratura but the voice is lovely and the accompaniment solid. I was appalled at the poor string intonation at the beginning of the 1957 flute concerto recording. I am surprised that Ansermet would allow this to pass muster for release. The flutist is adequate though his breathing is a bit choppy and consequently phrasing lacks the ideal legato line. The wind serenade is played accurately enough though rather metronomically but the recording itself is plagued with severe bass hum, which can be relieved by turning down the bass but then the sound becomes top heavy. Father Leopold's trumpet concerto from 1969 is remarkable for its plodding and pedestrian gait, also some instances of poor wind intonation in the accompaniment, sounding quite amateurish, all of which gives the cumulative impression that Ansermet had no particular interest in the piece. If this were my introduction to the conductor, I would seriously wonder what all the fuss was about. In short, a perplexingly bad issue, I am VERY sorry to report."
Mozart & Ansermet?
Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 01/28/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I was surprised when I saw this 2CD set in Australia's Decca Eloquence series because Mozart is not a composer one would normally associate with conductor Ernest Ansermet. But of course we are talking about the man who gave us the very first recordings of Haydn's Paris Symphonies, so how unsympathetic could it be? The biggest problem is the sound, with the mono accounts of the 38th Symphony and the Gran Partita a bit flat and tinny. For my money, the Concertos (Flute #2 and father Leopold's Trumpet) sound the best and are therefore the most enjoyable. The majority of these performances are seeing their first international release on CD, with Exsultate Jubilate, to the best of my knowledge, receiving its debut here. This two-fer is squarely aimed at collectors, but if you can find inexpensively through the Marketplace (as I did), then snap it up and enjoy."
