Thank you Karl and Donald. These are pieces that speak to an un-schooled
music lover like me; dense and challenging, but about something and going
somewhere, a story to tell and a landscape to limn. Wish I heard that in
more contemporary concert music, though I hedge by doubting myself before
the music.
Our excellent library system comes through again with Serge Baudo's
recording of Timbres, espace, mouvement and Sym 1. I also like the Barenboim
performances. They sounded like live recordings to me, but turn out not to
be. The composer supervised, which is cool. Orchestre National scuffle a
bit. I imagine that the BBC players have tighter ensemble. But here's an
interesting bit from Roger Nichols' Guardian obit:
"This ambivalent relationship with virtuosity lasted throughout his life. On
the one hand, unlike most students, he actually enjoyed writing fugues as an
abstract discipline. On the other, he enjoyed, by his own admission, not
only "a taste for a beautiful chord" but also the visceral excitement of
fine performers doing difficult things well: he liked Daniel Barenboim's
recording of his First Symphony because he took the scherzo at the correct,
headlong tempo. Setting one aspect off against the other produced many of
the most exciting and rewarding moments in his music."
A lucky man to have lived healthfully so long, created, and found
recognition. Nichols says he acquired an admiration for Berlioz. Now, that's
an interesting parallel. Good thing Henri had a happier career than did
Hector.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Miller
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 10:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Henri Dutilleux-obit
----- Original Message ----
From: Carl Pultz <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, May 23, 2013 8:37:59 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Henri Dutilleux-obit
Turns out I have some key recordings, so had a little Dutilleux fest
yesterday. Stern, Rostropovich, Barenboim, Munch's Metaboles - it's not a
big catalog. One I important item I lack is Timbres, espace, mouvement.
Amazon lists 7 recordings. Can you folks recommend one of them?
***********************************
Sadly, Munch was not with us long enough to record Timbres...I am probably
in a
minority, but I value the work of Tortelier. Also, sadly, the Munch Boston
Symphony performances of Dutilleux's music are not available commercially.
There
are two Munch performances of the Second Symphony with the Boston Symphony,
the
first performance and a later performance. The composer made changes to the
work
after the first performance, yet the first performance is full of fire.
Munch's
Boston Symphony performances of the First survive, but sadly, not available
commercially.
As an aside, three movements of the original version of the First Symphony
appeared on one of the email list...I think it was Symphonyshare. Quite
fascinating.
You mention Barenboim...while I rarely find his work to be of interest, I
think
his recording of both Symphonies are uncommonly inspired for him.
Karl (a devoted fan of Dutilleux's music)
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