Ravel, Dvořák, Strauss: Orchestral works
The orchestration of these recordings is very good, I think. Small enough to be eloquent, yet big enough to establish a degree of the unearthly. Distinctive sounds among the groups yet strings that can show the different levels of sounds in the wind.
From Strauss, I have to say that I found Don Quixote quite appealing. Forceful, surreal, enthusiastic, reflexive, popular. Characteristics that can well describe the phenomenal character it is based on.
Perhaps in the same spirit, I would have to accept that Also sprach Zarathustra resembles its cynical character. Yet, musically, it did not resound with me in the least (except for the well known initial part).
About Dvořák, I have to say that I am becoming quite fond of his work. Conflictive yet he is not in a fight against melody, which I appreciate. The New World Symphony is very evocative, and the title defines the setting quite nicely.
Ravel, well, Boléro is very good, well known, and this interpretation has some peculiarities which I do not yet know if I like or not.
Noteworthy is the Feria, 4th part of Rapsodie espagnole. Amazing how the people and music and megaphones are represented.
A disc from Sony Essential Classics. All works by Philadelphia Orchestra and directed by Eugene Ormandy, except: Valses directed by Charles Munch, "New World" by London Symphony Orchestra, and Serenade by Münchener Philharmoniker directed by Rudolf Kempe.
- Boléro
- Rapsodie espagnole
- Alborada
- Le Tombeau de Couperin
- Valses nobles et sentimentales
- Symphony No.9 in Em, Op.95 "From the New World"
- Serenade for Strings in E, Op.22
- Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30
- Don Quixote, Op.35
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