Search - Jacques Offenbach, Ottorino Respighi, Arthur Fiedler :: Offenbach: Gaïte parisienne; Rossini-Respighi: La boutique fantasque [Hybrid SACD]

Crème-de-la-Crème

Richard Falgione | U S A | 01/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone who knows the history of this recording knows it ranks as one of the best, most beloved recordings in the Classical genre. It was so well recorded in 1954 that even the 1993 CD reissue could do it no harm. The 2002 JVC XRCD2 definitely and dramatically bested the '93 reissue, and this SACD far surpasses the JVC undertaking. The effortlessness and naturalness of the sound contained on this SACD is astounding. The smoothness of the strings bounding in and out of the mix (not to mention the woodwinds and brass), the precisely placed percussion enhancing this lighthearted romp, the pacing and coherence of the entire score, and the refined and tight grip on the bass drums, bass viols and cellos, combine to make this far and away the best iteration of RCA Living Stereo's Offenbach: Gaîté Parisienne in the digital domain.



If you have either of the above reissue CDs, you will not be disappointed, or even pleasantly surprised, by this new SACD rendering of this monumental recording - you will be BLOWN AWAY!! This SACD reissue is a veritable time machine that transports you back to June 18, 1954, Symphony Hall in Boston, Orchestra Center, Row A, and leaves you wondering how your listening room grew so enormous (and how Arthur Fiedler still lives).



This is a revolutionary reissue of THE revolutionary Classical recording that will leave you, your ears and your mind spinning in utter disbelief at its impeccable quality, dramatic dynamics, scintillating percussion and orchestra, and matchless realism. This is Living Stereo at its MOST ALIVE! You certainly cannot spend your musical entertainment dollars on anything better.

"

One of Fiedler's Best

Timothy Kearney | Hull, MA United States | 11/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jacques Offenbach was the Andrew Lloyd Webber or Richard Rogers of his day. He was a composer who knew how to touch the public's heart and his works were successful as well. Yet after his death, he nearly went into obscurity, at least in comparison to the success he had in his lifetime. It seemed that only a few of his works survived but in the past few years there have been more discoveries of works believed to be lost and restaging of some of his works other than the operetta LE BELLE HELENE and his opera THE TALES OF HOFFMAN. In the past twenty or so years Offenbach has been taken a bit more seriously. While this happens to composers somewhat often, a renewed interest in Offenbach could be attributed to many things, but I wonder if it's due in no small part to the popularity of the score to GAITE PARISIENNE, based on music composed by Offenbach and arranged and orchestrated by Manuel Rosenthal. This score became so well known and introduced a new generation of the music of Offenbach, some may have wondered what else is out there? A theory maybe, but it's plausible.



When Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops first recorded this work, it was considered the standard upon which other recordings of the work were based. None seem to match its excitement. The work was a staple with the Pops throughout the tenure of Fiedler and Fiedler's characteristic of sometimes upping the tempo works well with this recording. In just about every Fiedler recording, it's evident he enjoys the music he's conducting, taking it seriously but also having fun and in some ways, his conducting of GAITE PARISIENNE demonstrates this more than any other Fiedler rerecording. Fiedler gives the same attention to LA BOUTIQUE FANTASQUE, Ottorino Respighi's arrangement of music by Rossini. It's simply an enjoyable recording, perfect for those times you want something lighthearted in the CD player. I would also say that this recording is a good selection for introducing a young person to classical music. I was probably in the sixth or seventh grade when I first grabbed this recording as an LP from my parents record collection. I put it on the stereo just to hear how it sounded and loved it. When I taught seventh graders many years later and wanted to expose them to different styles of music, I put on the same LP and students loved the familiar melodies of the Can-Can and Barcarolle and found that the variety of instruments used in the score was a good way to introduce students to the instruments of an orchestra.

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Fiedler Looked Ahead

Harry G. Arnold | Oak Ridge, TN United States | 04/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1957 or there-abouts I bought a monaural LP of Gaite. I played it on my cheap portable player for several years, then on my more expensive equipment beginning around 1964. Somewhere around 1985 I found a CD of the same LP. I didn't even have a CD player, but I bought it.



When I finally bought a CD player, I was amazed at the quality of the sound.



Sometime in the intervening years I chanced to read the original liner notes for the monaural LP. It appears that Columbia tried an experiment with this recording session and used multiple microphones throughout the orchestra and 30 inch-per-second tape recorders as an experiment in low noise, stereophonic recording. The current digital release would appear to be a remastering from these multiple track, low noise tapes."