Donald Peck, Flute...

On this CD:

1. Quartet for flute, violin, viola & cello, No. 1 in D major, K. 285
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

2. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), for orchestra, L. 86
Composed by Claude Debussy
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

3. Sonata for flute & piano, H. 306
Composed by Bohuslav Martinu
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

4. Soliloquy for Flute and piano
Composed by Bernard Rogers
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

5. Night Soliloquy for flute & orchestra
Composed by Kent Wheeler Kennan
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

6. Serenade for flute, harp, & strings, Op. 35
Composed by Howard Hanson
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

7. Sonata for flute & piano, FP 164
Composed by Francis Poulenc
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

8. Acht Vortragsstucke, Op. 55
Composed by Karl Joachim Andersen
Performed by Melody Lord, Donald Peck

Tracks:

Rapsodie espagnole: Prelude a la nuit
Rapsodie espagnole: Malaguena
Rapsodie espagnole: Habanera
Rapsodie espagnole: Feria
Alborada Del Gracioso
Mother Goose: Pavane Of The Sleeping Beauty
Mother Goose: Hop-o-My Thumb
Mother Goose: Laideronnette, Empress Of The Pagodas
Mother Goose: Beauty And The Beast Converse
Mother Goose: The Fairy Garden
Introduction And Allegro For Harp, Flute, Clarinet, And Strings
Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No.2: Lever du jour
Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No.2: Pantomime
Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No.2: Danse generale

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful performances of Ravel.......2002-04-30

These are warm hearted performances, full of nuance and sensitivity of expression, and beautifully played. Furthermore, the recorded sound is both very full bodied and detailed. I disagree with the previous reviewer who asserts that these performances are not properly French sounding compared with Martinon's later EMI recordings with the Orchestra de Paris (as to which, for what it is worth, Martinon said that he preferred his EMI Debussy recordings with the Orchestral National de France). Although I have not heard those performances, I don't think that Ravel's orchestral works fall flat unless they are played with somewhat nasal sounding brass and winds (i.e. the French sound). Instead, Martinon provides idiomatic phrasing combined with a virtuosity and beauty of orchestral sound beyond the capabilities of French orchestras of the time. Definitely one of the finest collections of his orchestral music.

So, why do I like it?.......2000-07-26

There's a lot wrong here: Martinon, before the wrong orchestra. So, why do I like it? Probably because Martinon didn't take the first thing that came to him and did some work to turning the orientation of these performances toward Paris. It makes a lot of difference. And it's wonderful listening.

But, unlike the previous reviewer, I think this is rather a well-done compromise and can't really fulfill the French performance paradigms that Martinon sought. The EMI recordings with the Orchestre de Paris show the conductor uncovering a lot of color, elan, and that ascerbic, Gallic nastiness that's essential to Ravel and totally, and I mean totally, lacking in this issue. However, it's the best that any French conductor has recorded in Chicago.

But that's the key word: recorded. I have a sneaking suspicion that the storied concerts by Paul Paray may have gone some way beyond this, and his recordings on Mercury with the Detroit Symphony carefully trained in the French style give you spades more in color, character, drama, and rive gauche than you'll ever get a whiff of here.