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Tribute to Charles Munch 1962-1989
Charles Munch, Orquestre National De France
Tribute to Charles Munch 1962-1989
Genre: Classical
 
Charles Munch was one of the most exciting conductors around, particularly in the music of Berlioz, which he conducted better than just about anyone else ever has. He was also very different in the studio, as opposed to li...  more »

     

CD Details

All Artists: Charles Munch, Orquestre National De France
Title: Tribute to Charles Munch 1962-1989
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Valois
Release Date: 7/14/1998
Genre: Classical
Style: Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 713746091323

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Charles Munch was one of the most exciting conductors around, particularly in the music of Berlioz, which he conducted better than just about anyone else ever has. He was also very different in the studio, as opposed to live--not worse, but different. When he made records, Munch tended to be keep himself under control a bit more, though he never lost the ability to let himself go. Before an audience, though, he went crazy, and that makes these marvelous sets of broadcast performances--most in perfectly serviceable sound--essential listening for Munchkins (as fans of the conductor are known). There are certain composers that Munch more or less "owned" during his lifetime--Honegger, Roussel, Dutilleux--and they are all particularly well represented here. There's also a Symphonie Fantastique which is the last word in interpretive dementia, and a liberal dose of Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms, in which the playing ranges from smashing to appalling. But no matter: this was a great artist, and these discs are a worthy tribute to his memory. --David Hurwitz
 

CD Reviews

Tape what's good, junk the rest
Mark McCue | Denver, CO USA | 08/02/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"It took courage to put some of this out. And I question the need to perpetrate some of it. It really shows Munch in all his magnificent greatness...counterbalanced with warts breaking out all over those feet of clay. It's probably the most honest thing that's come out with Munch, but some of it makes for "tricky" listening.First, the Fantastique: this document shows how Munch began to make the work a caricature of himself and eventually Berlioz. It was something he did far too often to the point of the grotesque. This is for curiosity only, though I suppose some "Munchiers" will find it one of their many revelations.The Beethoven 7th is nowhere up to his first Boston version, but it still makes for some good listening. Everything is well-judged, particularly his attention to balance and the felicities of orchestration. The third movement is really a bit slow.This is one he DIDN'T do so much. It's not bad, but not really worth the price you're paying for it. All of the Honegger, on the other hand, outdoes what he did in the studio! This all is absolutely first rate interpretatively and if you excuse some of the usual sorts of mistakes that happen in concerts, they can serve as primary sources for you. What a service Munch did for the splendid composer Honegger was! It was a musical pairing unique in the century.The Dutilleux is ragged and rushed, Munch's stereo release with the Lamoureux walks all over it and if you're buying this set, you surely have that. The Sibelius is forgettable, a bit corny while trying to be wistful--this was not Munch's composer. The Roussel is also outclaassed by his Boston and Lamoureux sessions--much finer playing if not in the B & A so much the sound--so try to run across those somewhere, though these attempts are not exactly a scrub-job. The B & A is pushy and kind of insensitive, as if the conductor didn't feel well and wanted to go home.On the whole, I'd buy this for the Honegger to copy, then trade it in. The producers could have released just it and Munch's legacy would have been the better for it.So, if the producers thought this was worth tarting up, why don't they release all those ORTF concert tapes they have squirreled away of Munch's confrere Paul Paray? He was an interpreter who could better anyone for consistency in executional quality and interpretative insight, whether in the studio or somewhere else. And he had that unique luminous Paray sound unlike Munch who would take almost anything an orchestra gave him the first time around. I have a sneaking suspicion old Paray would give CD listeners who buy live performances far more value than Munch gives here."