Royal Liverpool Philharmonic - Debussy, Dukas & Roussel - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Mosonyi / Kormendi / Stankovsky - Con Pno/Sym 1 [COMPACT DISCS] date 06/14/1994

Just for fun, try playing this CD as a quiz for a musically knowledgeable friend. You can give one hint the composer is well known. As the suite from the operetta The Bride Elect proceeds, you'll probably get guesses like Johann Strauss (during the opening waltz), Offenbach, or Victor Herbert. But when the concluding number, a march, arrives, the composer will be obvious. Sousa's operettas, if one judges from these orchestral selections, aren't highly original or even outstandingly tuneful. But they are good light entertainment, especially as played by this crack group of Slovak players under the direction of Sousa expert Keith Brion. Naxos's recording is as crisp and clear as the orchestral playing.

In this vibrant and colorful orchestral program from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Domingo Hindoyan, Chabrier's España opens proceedings. The composer's interest in Spain was most likely the result of his friendship with the artist Edouard Manet, whose paintings depicted Spanish themes. The conductor of the premiere was Charles Lamoureux who persuaded Chabrier to visit Spain in the summer of 1882. This work was the catalyst for French composers who followed to explore Spanish influences. Manual de Falla commented on Debussy's Iberia InchWithout knowing Spain, or without having set foot on Spanish ground,Inch he noted, InchDebussy has written Spanish music. He came to know Spain through books and paintings, through songs and dances performed by native Spaniards.Inch