Various Composers - 'Reverie Et Caprice' Violin Romances [Juillet/Dutoit-Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal]
This is a nice recital of music for violin and orchestra, the difference between this and the many other similar discs that i have, is that this one includes some rarer and welcome items [tracks 1 and 7 for instance], plus instead of working around flamboyant showstoppers [like Saint-Saens and Sarasate], it concentrates more on pieces that have colour and atmosphere, Lalo and Faure get a good look in, of course the linking factor is also French / Belgian composers, this is not a collection that has made an immediate impact on me, i've had the disc since 2006, but it's a slow grower, plus there's a generous amount of music on the disc [75 minutes], i enjoyed listening to this while out for a walk today.
Chantel Juillet is Canadian, and now 51, she made this recording in 1996, in 2010 she married Charles Dutoit the conductor here, the front cover photography is by Julian Broad, the lettering is nicely laid out, pink on blue looks great, very well done.
Of all the pieces it was tracks 4 & 6 that i was really impressed with, the longest and shortest pieces on the disc [the timing for the Chausson piece is wrong, it's meant to be 16:20], the Chausson i love, and i've mentioned it before in my Blog, but the short Lalo piece Guitare was originally for voice and piano i believe, this is an orchestral transcription, and it's such a wonderful piece of music, it's a wonder that it's not more well known, it's obvious why it's called Guitare, mimicking the Guitar by the violin and the bubbling woodwind, and lots of pizzicato by the strings, the piece starts of with some fierce pizzicato from Juillet and the orchestra [i think a harp possibly], the sweet legato lines of the violin are nicely juxtaposed against the bubbly staccato woodwind and the jagged pizzicato of the strings, and what a lovely tune it is too [0:09-1:16] bowed superbly by Juillet, and given twice for effect, there's a middle section which sounds like it's in a different key [1:19-2:34], and it gives just the right amount of variety, you can certainly hear the sound of castanets being mimicked in there, the return of the main theme is masterly [2:35+], and in the background there's a clarinet bubbling away in its bass registers, once you hear the piece, it will lodge in your heart for ever.
Here's Ruggero Ricci playing Lalo's Guitare on YouTube.
