Can anyone help please!

[sheffmark]

Hi everyone!
Driving home from work tonight i heard a piece of music on the radio (Classic FM).
I thought it was a lovely piece of music and i have heard it before but have never heard of the composer (Excuse my ignorance ).

The piece of music was:
Pavane Opus 50, by Gabriel Faure
Composer:Faure, Gabriel
Soloist:Ophelie Gaillard
Conductor:Timothy Redmond
Ensemble:Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Record Label:Atlas Realisations/Harmonia Mundi
Catalog:AP 001

Although i enjoyed the piece, i'd like to know if, in anybody's opinion, there are better recordings of it elsewhere.
To my un-educated ear it was fine but you fine people might know of a corker of a recording!
Thanks in advance!

[springrite]

It is a short piece and there are many good recording available. You may want to consider what other music are on the disc to decide which one to buy, since the Pavane will only take up a tiny part of the entire disc.

Best coupling? The Faure requiem, of course! I have one such CD with Dutoit conducting the Montreal folks.

[sheffmark]

Thanks springrite!
How can i find out which CD its on?
I got the information about the piece from the Classic FM website which tells you information on each piece of music throughout the day.

[Sergeant Rock]

Thanks springrite!
How can i find out which CD its on?

My favorite version of the Pavane (very intense) is also coupled with the Requiem: Barenboim conducting the Orchestre de Paris. You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faur%C3%A9-Bach-Choral-Works-Gabriel/dp/B000002S4P/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334255862&sr=1-1


If you are looking for a version without chorus, this Slatkin disc is great:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saint-Symphony-Orchestra-Popular-Orchestral/dp/B000003CSO/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334256098&sr=1-3


Sarge

[springrite]

Thanks springrite!
How can i find out which CD its on?
I got the information about the piece from the Classic FM website which tells you information on each piece of music throughout the day.

What you heard is from this CD:

http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Ophelie-Gaillard/dp/B002OCA00M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334256109&sr=1-1

[springrite]

Please note that what you heard on the radio was NOT the Faure, but rather a transcription of the Faure, for the cellist with orchestra, I believe. The original with chorus is much better. Rock's recommendation of Barenboim is a good one, as are many others.

[Opus106]

...as are many others.

And that's how it starts.

[springrite]

And that's how it starts.

He will find out the way it works here: eventually every recording ever made will be recommended by someone. So I might as well let him expect it ahead of times and know that's how it works. 

[sheffmark]

Thank-you very much Sergeant Rock & springrite for taking the time out to find me those CDs!
I'll certainly check those out!!
Once again, many thanks!

[sheffmark]

He will find out the way it works here: eventually every recording ever made will be recommended by someone. So I might as well let him expect it ahead of times and know that's how it works. 

My wallet is going to feel a lot lighter before i'm done!!

[Karl Henning]

springrite got there first, but you certainly want to investigate the Fauré Requiem, a piece which (to use the term in its strictly accurate musical application) drop-dead gorgeous.

[springrite]

springrite got there first, but you certainly want to investigate the Fauré Requiem, a piece which (to use the term in its strictly accurate musical application) drop-dead gorgeous.

As stated in my will: "Play the Ligeti Requiem when I am alive. But do play the Faure Requiem if all indications are I am not going to wake up."

[Leon]

springrite got there first, but you certainly want to investigate the Fauré Requiem, a piece which (to use the term in its strictly accurate musical application) drop-dead gorgeous.

And once you are at the Faure Requiem, it is only natural to take a small detour to the Durufle Requiem:

[asin]B000003CU2[/asin]

There are several couplings of these works, and better individual performances of them seperately, but you can hardly do better for an introduction to both than this Robert Shaw recording.

[Karl Henning]

And once you are at the Faure Requiem, it is only natural to take a small detour to the Durufle Requiem:

[asin]B000003CU2[/asin]

A great recording!

And (if Mark will give me leave for a tangent) . . . a recital Tuesday evening was the first I ever heard the Duruflé Suite pour orgue.  Quite understandably treasured by organists.

The recitalist told an amusing story.  Organists the world over were aghast to learn, in the late 70s, that the maître himself could not stand the Toccata which closes the Opus 5 Suite; if he were on the panel judging a competition, and one of the contestants began to play the Toccata, he would leave the room.

On a time, one organist sought to remonstrate with Duruflé, "It is such a fine piece!" "No," the aging composer insisted, "it has a weak theme. It is like sitting down to a meal, and the meat is rotten."

"But, Maurice," protested the composer's wife Marie-Madeleine Chevalier, also an organist, "the sauce is so delicious . . . ."

[sheffmark]

And once you are at the Faure Requiem, it is only natural to take a small detour to the Durufle Requiem:

[asin]B000003CU2[/asin]

There are several couplings of these works, and better individual performances of them seperately, but you can hardly do better for an introduction to both than this Robert Shaw recording.

That certainly looks very good!
They all look very good!
I'll check out all your recommendations and i'll decide which i prefer.
I get the feeling that listening to classical music,you're always spoilt for choice!!

Many thanks to you all for your recommendations and words of advice!

[Szykneij]

Please note that what you heard on the radio was NOT the Faure, but rather a transcription of the Faure, for the cellist with orchestra, I believe. The original with chorus is much better. Rock's recommendation of Barenboim is a good one, as are many others.

One of my favorite pieces! It was originally written for piano, then orchestra, and then an optional choral part was added (I believe to appease a benefactor, although my memory is a bit hazy on that.) I have a score at work that gives background information on the piece. I'll check it tomorrow.

Another nice transcription is on this disc:

[TheGSMoeller]

http://www.youtube.com/v/udwWw2AsN88
http://www.youtube.com/v/ZuM6tFwYaoI

First one orchestral, second is with choir. 

[eyeresist]

It is a short piece and there are many good recording available. You may want to consider what other music are on the disc to decide which one to buy, since the Pavane will only take up a tiny part of the entire disc.

Best coupling? The Faure requiem, of course! I have one such CD with Dutoit conducting the Montreal folks.

This. 

I have the Barenboim recording with Pavane, Requiem and Bach's Magnificat as an extra. To be honest, I'm not sure it's the greatest recording ever of the Pavane, but the Requiem rocks!

Pro-tip: if you're hunting specifically for the Pavane, just compare a bunch of samples on Amazon.

[Mirror Image]

For Faure's Requiem:

[asin]B000003CU2[/asin]

or

[asin]B0000041BH[/asin]

For Faure's Pavane:

[asin]B000001G8P[/asin]

------------------------------------------

The Shaw recording has been recommended many times here and I couldn't recommend it highly enough either. It is a gorgeous performance. I also recommend Marriner's account as well. This is a very satisfying performance. I own perhaps 5 or 6 recordings of Faure's Requiem and these are the two I continue to come back to. For the Pavane, it doesn't get any better than Ozawa's BSO account on DG. You also get some other orchestral works that are every bit as good as the Pavane.

[mc ukrneal]

Another nice transcription is on this disc:

I've always liked that as well. But as Springrite said, there really are many good versions of it.