Search - Aaron Copland, Antal Dorati, Harold Lawrence :: Copland: Appalachian Spring; Billy the Kid; Danzon Cubano; El Salon Mexico

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Mark McCue | Denver | 03/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...The attraction of Dorati's readings of ballets is that he was a staff conductor of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo for a long time and conducts ballet as dance...so he's right there, without seeming to know it. He doesn't seem to know either that Dorati's complete Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid are REALLY complete minus a few gallop off points. They are of the later, concert orchestrations, though, so they aren't original versions. Nevertheless, they are the most rapt and fluent readings in the catalog and have been for nearly 40 years.More research--like looking at printed scores, reading commission and rehearsal letters, and the ballet scenarii thenselves--indicates Copland wanted playing "a slancio" (Italian here Gino: "on slouch") for both Salon Mexico and Cubano. Salon takes place in a desert Mexican bar, so a Eugene Ormandy or Herbert Von Karajan reading is not called for. The New York commission wanted a sleaze to the pit orchestra for Cubano. So the clams Gene hears are right there for you to see and hear if you bother to read and listen. The Minneapolis Symphony and Dorati are the only performers save for Howard Mitchell and the National Symphony to get any of this right on target.So, take it from someone who has found out--Copland admired Dorati intensely for a reason, and believe me, it's here for you to hear in Wilma Cozarts superb, restored sound."

Well-Known Copland Scores at a Leisurely Pace

Eugene G. Barnes | Dunn Loring, VA USA | 04/04/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dorati gamely conducts American music better than you might think. I once heard his take on the Ives "Holidays" Symphony (filling in for an ailing Morton Gould with the Detroit Symphony), and it was as good as I had ever heard! What I find most distinctive about this traversal of the thrice-familiar "Appalachian Spring" Suite and "Billy the Kid" Complete Ballet is the pace he takes, markedly slower than the average American conductor. As we are sometimes told by Those Who Know, most non-ballet conductors tend to conduct ballet too fast, so we might just have here a more authentic rendition of these pieces. The London Symphony is superb, and the sound is lovely. Although the 35 MM film version of the 1961 session is presently "unavailable," they had a conventional high-end tape recorder running, luckily, and that is the original master used for this CD.The final two selections, "Danzon Cubano" and "El Salon Mexico", are also taken at a leisurely pace. These two are played by the Minneapolis Symphony (recorded in 1957), and I'm sorry to say there are plenty of clams and a great deal of tentativeness, almost like the orchestra is playing at the limits of its collective competence - not like most of the Minneapolis recordings under Dorati by any means. There are better renditions of these two pieces out there."