Search - Oue, E:cnd/Minnesota Orch :: Mephisto & Co.

Brilliant and touching

Chris Honingh | Krommenie, NH Netherlands | 08/04/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The major problem with wellknown pieces of music is the immediate reference you have with other interpretations, especially on record. You hear the music in your head before you hear it with your ears. And when the interpretators lack affinity with the composer's intentions there you have it: annoyance. But none of this with Mr. Oue's Minnesota Orchestra; his often somewhat showy interpretations of wellknown pieces can be forgotten when you listen closely. The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Stokovky in Walt Disney's Fantasia can't keep up with this one. Liszt's Mephisto Waltz with the two endings, of which I appreciate the second the most, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, they are all put in a different light. Most appealing is Malcolm Arnold's Tam O'Shanter, watch out for the rolling thunder of the drums! The only thing I regret is the presence of Lucifer Polka by Johann Strauss II, except for the name it has nothing in common with the other pieces of music. A disappointing ending to a good record."