Search - Camille Saint-Saens, Jacques Ibert, Vincent d'Indy :: Munch Conducts Saint-Saens, Franck, Indy, Honegger, Roussel, Ibert

Dyanmite performances of French Blockbusters

Ivan G. Guevara | 07/07/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These are brilliant , definitive performances of several French orches-

tral works. Munch and the BSO are in top form, particularly in the Franck

and Saint-Saens symphonies (the former every bit as good as the Monteux

Chicago CD and the latter a long-established classic rendition that war-horse. I found,unlike some reviewers that the tempi in the Saint-Saens were just right and not rushed and hectic as some have said; the remain-

der of the performances are equally fine and valuable because of their

relative obscurity - I loved the Ibert Escales and the D'Indy, and the

Honegger Symphony 5 and Roussel Bacchus are also top=notch. However, I do have one complaint that has nothing to do with the seller, and that is

the cheap packaging from RCA France. Why must they insist on minmal pack-

aging with liner notes only in French that are sketchy at best and say

almost nothing about the repertoire. Surely a record company could do better than this, especially where such peerless performances are in-

volved? Still, I would not hesitate to recommend the set to anyone inte-

rested in either this repertoire or this conductor. The performances will

not disappoint."