Search - Jacques Offenbach, Jacques Ibert, Erich Kunzel :: Offenbach: Gaîté Parisienne; Ibert: Divertissement

Highly Annoying

01/16/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The performance is so-so at best, with negligible texture variations from track to track. Kunzel and the Cincinatti Pops oompah-oompah exactly the same way throughout the work. Even in the Bacarolle!But the recording quality is truly awful. It sounds like the bass drum was placed 20 feet IN FRONT of the orchestra. In fact, on some tracks one can hardly hear the orchestra over the drum. This gets really irritating after a while.Every other version I've heard is far better."

Not right!

Alan Montgomery | Oberlin, Oh USA | 05/10/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While I don't agree with the other reviewer about the sound quality, I find this recording to be very un-French. It is heavy and ponderously emphatic where it should be lighter and more sprightly. It isn't a matter of speed. The worst problem with this CD, however, is that Mr. Kunzel chose to insert the Barcarolle earlier than it should be, making the ballet end with the Can-Can rather than the beautiful and nostalgic Barcarolle. Manuel Rosenthal, the arranger, knew better."