Search - Gioachino Rossini, Charles Dutoit, Montréal Symphony Orchestra :: Rossini: Overtures

Mostly well-played, not the best

Bruce H. Jensen | San Lorenzo, CA United States | 10/11/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Rossini Overtures have a long history of being popular showpieces in the orchestra hall and at bandstand concerts, with good reason - they are packed full of delightful melodies, high spirits and potent energy - when played properly. The Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit made a name for itself by recording colorful classics like these in the 1980's and 90's, but these are not the best of that otherwise worthy ensemble's output.



There are two major reasons for this. First is the sound that Decca gave to the orchestra in the St. Eustache Church locale. It is lush, rich and sweet - which is great for many kinds of music - but these overtures generally require a little bit crisper, slightly more astringent, more immediate sonics to be at their best.



Second, Dutoit encouraged a lush, suave sound from his orchestra that was elegant and lively, and this did him very well for staples of the French repertoire for which they became well known. However, the same sound that supported with class and elegance his Ravel recordings, was a bit too toned down to yield the finest results for this repertoire. Make no mistake, the playing is nearly immaculate and refined (with one or two glaring exceptions), but it is just a bit too - easy-going? - for the rambunctious parts for which these showpieces are known.



As to playing, one part that especially stands out for the wrong reasons is the opening of the famous galop from William Tell - the brass comes in "more or less" strongly enough, but then begins to trip over itself - that is, they sections do not keep in step with each other, and the thing sounds haphazardly played. This is one of those glaring exceptions. The rest of the galop is only lukewarm compared to the best.



This set includes the most famous of Rossini's vital overtures. For a better set of most of them, Fritz Reiner's Chicago Symphony recording on BMG/RCA with six of them is about the pinnacle of performance for these pieces, bringing an energy to these pieces that surpass practically all other recordings. One who loves Rossini orchestral work should not be without this set.



Leonard Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic on Sony hold up well too, with typically rambunctious and inspired playing. The Bernstein Edition CD is OOP but often available used, and adds two favorite Suppe overtures. Riccardo Chailly's bargain two-fer recording of 14 overtures on Decca is very well-done for most of the pieces and lively with good sound, even if the William Tell is slightly aloof and a little less potent than some.



Roger Norrington's recording of Rossini Overtures is highly regarded as well, although I have not heard this one yet (one of these days).



If you want a crackling good William Tell coupled with top-notch overtures by some other composers, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops on RCA (Fiedler's Favorite Overtures) is a good bet (OOP, but usually available used). The sound is a little dated (but by no means bad), and the CD is an earlier late 80's - early 90's vintage, but the adrenaline flows freely in Fiedler's performances, and this set contains many other gems too.



"

Bargain Rossini collection

Bruce H. Jensen | 06/24/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those who don't have any Rossini in your CD collection, this Dutoit/Montreal recording is a good starting point. My only quibble is that there are no liner notes and that the song titles are only in Italian. For this bargain price, though, I can't complain. Dutoit and his home orchestra are always top notch, this recording included."

A Very Good Recording

Gregory L. Dauria | Connecticut USA | 02/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, I have no where near the knowledge of classical music to be able to gauge one symphony/conductor against another. All I know is what sounds good to me. In short, what sounds like the real deal and not a recording. I notice that everyone talks about and evaluates recordings, from the casual listener like myself, to experts that write for Stereophile. To me, the one thing that is always missing is that we never really know how well these people hear. So, considering personal preferences, and physiological differences, it is easy to understand the diversity of opinions regarding the reproduction of music in general. Add to this the differences in audio equipment and room acoustics, how can one person definitively rate and universally apply an opinion concerning a particular recording? I have spent considerable effort, and money, trying to - for lack of a more articulate description - recreate live "natural" performances from recorded media. I have tried them all: CD, HDCD, XRCD24, SACD, DVD-A - the latter two in both multi-channel and stereo. I have studied analog (audiophiles' sacred vinyl records), 16 Bit/44.1 KHz, 24 Bit/96 KHz recording theories, mastering techniques, and tried to understand which format makes sense from a scientific perspective. Confused, is my current state of mind. My practical experience has shown me that a properly mastered CD can run with anything. Maybe a pristine analog recording on a top notch audiophile system will sound better, but I think the hardware requirements to achieve such results is well beyond what the vast majority of us can afford. And to be frank, I don't think the improvement is going to be "jaw-dropping." This finally brings me to this relative inexpensive recording of Rossini Overtures. This recording is part of the "Eloquence" series that is collection of Decca, Phillips and Deutsche Grammophon classical recordings. It was re-mastered by Emil-Berliner Studios using their Ambient Surround Imaging (AMSI) process. Honestly, I am not a fan of multi-channel, or surround sound imaging. As a matter of fact, I had no idea that the recording was considered two channel surround sound until I read the jacket. This is what I can tell you, I was very impressed by the clearness and imaging of the recording. It is one of the very few recordings that I own that does justice to classical music. I was so impressed with this CD, and the AMSI re-mastering process, that I have ordered five additional CD's from the Eloquence collection. Note that the Rossini CD is relatively new (1992) and is DDD."