"Because he's so quiet, and his music isn't as controversial as certain other post WWII french composers who will remain nameless *cough*, Dutilleux's tiny, immaculate reperatory does not get nearly the attention it deserves, and that's a damn shame.
Anyway, to keep it short, "The Shadows of Time" is one of the great triumphs of contemporary music and even as a broke musician I would have paid the admission fee just for this one (this recording is the best of the four available, too, though I'm sure better ones will come). Not to overshadow the rest of the music though, because this is a helluvalotta damn good, damn pretty, damn imaginative music.
This collection is a must for anyone who likes contemporary music--or early 20th century and wants to stretch there ears just a bit. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful."
Dutilleux - who?
John S. Garrigues | The Woodlands, TX USA | 08/20/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After hearing Henri Dutilleux for the first time ("The Shadow of Time") on a recent NPR broadcast, I immediately ordered his complete orchestral works, available on this four CD set. I am not disappointed. His music is very accessible and deserves a much wider audience. I highly recommend this set."
Complete?
Robert Mcdonald | West Hollywood, CA United States | 03/21/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"How can Chandos clain this to be a complete orchestral collection when they leave out his ballet, . Ok. There are dancers on stage, but it is a full orchestra that plays it, and it has yet to see the light of day completely recorded anywhere.
Shame on Chandos for overlooking this."
A seminal release
G.D. | Norway | 05/01/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I own, and cherish, my copy of Musikkens Verden, a Norwegian music encyclopedia published in 1950 (long before I was born, in other words). It isn't a very comprehensive encyclopedia, but remarkable for the fact that it contains interviews with a few hundred contemporaneous composers considered the most important at the time (they did miss some important ones, to be sure). The minor point, though, is that (apart from some then very young Norwegian composers, who were more exhaustively covered) sixty years later, Dutilleux is as far as I can tell the last interviewee still alive (Elliott Carter wasn't included). In 1950 he was a promising composer with a few exciting and remarkable works to his name such as the piano sonata. He has certainly lived up to that early promise, and the set at hand - three discs of his orchestral music (not quite complete), consistently superbly performed - is a thoroughly valuable addition to the catalogue.
The first disc is probably the most important of them. Dutilleux composed his two symphonies in 1951 and 1959, respectively, and both works belong to a tradition developed from Ravel and Honegger even though the finale of the second reveals a more modernist disposition. Both works are crammed with interesting and memorable ideas, developed with refinement and mastery, and both works display a powerful sweep and almost epic dimension in their - different - quests for tonal resolution (which the second never quite reaches). They are texturally rich (the second also deploys a group of twelve soloists), and the Chandos recording team might have taken a risk when providing such an opulent sound, but it works almost perfectly (even though certain details are lost in the second symphony). More importantly, the BBC Philharmonic is on top form throughout, and Yan Pascal Tortelier a superb advocate, not afraid to let the music breathe but still remaining rhythmically taut and providing all the spirit and dramatic tensions the music demands.
For the second disc we turn to far later works. Timbres, espace, mouvement was composed in 1978 but revised in 1991, and is a superb work - in many ways it might be considered a third symphony, despite the fact that it eschews traditional symphonic development and symphonic structure. It is a glittering, almost pictorial - even balletic - score, and even if Tortelier and the BBC might take a relatively cautious approach, they certainly realize the brilliant textures and impressionistic qualities of the music (although they certainly don't have the final word on this one). The violin concerto from 1985 is also given in a slightly low-key manner, but the possible lack of drama is compensated for by the magical textures and songful flow of the music; that of course demands a lot from Charlier, the BBC Philharmonic and Tortelier, but to my mind they succeed almost completely. The disc also includes the two gorgeous and sumptuously orchestrated Cassou sonnets and a delectable arrangement of Alain's Priere.
The cello concerto has already achieved almost classic status, and Pergamentschikov is as good an advocate as you could hope for. His approach is perhaps shorn of extrovert drama and superficial brilliance, playing up a more symphonic image of the music. Metaboles is a tricky work to bring off, but Tortelier apparently has a complete grasp of it, providing a sustained development and wonderfully shaped climaxes (but is it just a little bit monotonous sounding?). I am less sure I really manage to fully appreciate Mystére de l'instant, which sounds to me as a somewhat less interesting cousin of Metaboles; it is still a glittering score, relatively introvert but still with a certain dramatic flair. Again, the BBC Philharmonic plays the music superbly, and they are led with skill and thoughtfulness. The sound is excellent as always.
The set also contains a bonus disc of Tortelier's recording of Dutilleux's most recent work, The Shadows of Time (not among the originally released separate issues); again Tortelier fully captures the magic of Dutilleux's sound world while at the same time having a clear view of the work's overall structure. In short, this is a remarkable and important set. If I were to recommend a single disc I might be inclined to go for the one containing the symphonies (especially for those who are relatively unfamiliar with the composer), but the whole set is indeed very strongly recommended."
Incroyable!
B. R. Merrick | 01/13/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Henri Dutilleux is a composer I instantly took to when I heard a powerful piano sonata played by a fellow music student. Atonal, but not cerebral or meandering enough to lose the ear. There was a romantic passion to the music that compelled the listener to stay with it. His orchestral music is quite the same.
Don't be fooled by the title of these CDs, however. Dutilleux is still with us, so this is definitely NOT a "complete" compilation of his orchestral works. But it is an excellent introduction.
The playing on these recordings contributes nicely to the vastness of the sound, emphasizing the colorful harmonies, as well as the stylish (and very French) modern sonorities. I'm an even bigger Dutilleux fanatique than before. Bon appétit!"
