Albert Roussel - A Sadly Neglected French Composer.

Started by Superhorn, September 15, 2008, 12:35:07 PM

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Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Ah, the good old days: when books came before the movies . . . .
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Mirror Image

Back to Roussel...

Here's a good overview of the Roussel's highly acclaimed Symphony No. 3 taken from All Music Guide:

At every stage of his career, Roussel's best work is masterly finished, engaging, surefire. But for the connoisseur, tracing his stylistic evolution possesses a fascination of its own. If the opera-ballet Padmåvatî (1914-1918) crowns his second manner, making explicit the preoccupation with instinct and annihilation ironically broached in the ballet Le Festin de l'araignée (1912), his Symphony No. 2 (1919-1920) encapsulates the period with formal yet disturbing point. The ironic detachment of Le Festin gives way to dark (and harmonically adventurous) foreboding, while the irrepressibly animated episodes are fraught with frenzied feverishness. But by the mid-1920s the skies had cleared, so to speak, and Roussel entered his final, neo-Classical, phase with the orchestral Suite in F (1926) whose three movements -- two in Baroque dance forms -- afford a foretaste of the Symphony No. 3 in their effortless combination of energy and serenity. Commissioned by Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Suite received its premiere by those forces January 21, 1927, continuing a Francophile tradition that had seen Henri Rabaud and Pierre Monteux as chef d'orchestre, and entertained Roussel's teacher and colleague, Vincent d'Indy, in 1905 and 1921.

To celebrate the B.S.O.'s 50th anniversary, Koussevitzky commissioned a number of works including Honegger's Symphony No. 1, Prokofiev's Fourth, Hindemith's Concert Music, Op. 50, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, and Roussel's Symphony No. 3. The Third occupied Roussel from August 1929 through March 1930. Roussel and his wife were present for the Boston premiere, October 24, 1930, the composer remarking that Koussevitzky had conducted "with an extraordinary care and enthusiasm," and noting the day after, "As far as I can gauge after this hearing, it is the best thing I have done...." That, indeed, has been the consensus of critics and listeners alike -- only the ballet Bacchus et Ariane, which followed it immediately, has rivaled it in popularity. From the sardonic strut of the opening, the Third is immediately arresting, while its tightly coiled argument -- compact even for the form-conscious Roussel -- compels by its melding of logic and vivacity, sophistication and primitivism. The second movement transcends counterpoint in a miracle of passionate, ostinato-driven polyphony, while the scherzo and final Allegro con spirito -- elegant and rumbustious by turns -- are wrought with colossal playfulness. Albert Wolff and the Concerts Lamoureux gave the Paris premiere on November 28, 1931, and made a classic recording of the work the following year.

snyprrr

Quote from: cilgwyn on September 04, 2011, 08:27:12 AM
These threads do usually have a snappier title. Roussel's Rickshaw,Roussel's Road House,Roussel's Ribena,etc? Not that it matters,though.

snyprrr


snyprrr

Quote from: Scarpia on May 14, 2011, 09:09:59 AM
Listening to sad-sac Roussel, the sadly neglected composer.  (Can nothing be done about this idiotic thread title?) 

mm, hmm

snyprrr

Quote from: Brewski on September 15, 2008, 01:05:56 PM
I'll be looking at the suggestions here with interest.

--Bruce

Please, look harder!! ::) ;D

I will take legal action if this Thread Title is not restored to decency! >:D

I WILL use comic sans! :o

snyprrr

Please duly note the previous few Posts. This ends here! >:D


Anyhoo ;D,

I am rolling up the sleeves to seriously take on Roussel here. I have gotten by with the EMI disc of concertos, and the Jarvi disc (which everyone says is too fast, and I listened yesterday and am interested in other recordings), with the VoxBox SQ and the chamber disc on Erato (two trios and the Serenade).

Clutyens (sic?) seems the most interesting. Frankly, if I trade in Jarvi, then I really have nothing to duplicate (well, the Suite on the EMI). I'll continue trawling the Amazon...


THREAD TITLE, people! THREAD TITLE. Or it gets ugly! :-*

snyprrr

I will spam this Thread like a Zoloft ad until the Title gets fixed!!

Scarpia

Roussel seems to lack a set of truly definitive recordings.   But there is little to complain of in Dutoit and Janowski.  I've never been disappointed by a Pretre recording of Roussel.  I'm curious about the Eschenbach.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Scarpia on August 26, 2012, 08:25:20 AM
Roussel seems to lack a set of truly definitive recordings.

Stéphane Denève and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's five discs worth of symphonies and orchestral works are well regarded (all five received 10/10 reviews at Classics Today, for example). Definitive? I don't know...but they're certainly not bad.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Scarpia

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on August 26, 2012, 08:47:16 AM
Stéphane Denève and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's five discs worth of symphonies and orchestral works are well regarded (all five received 10/10 reviews at Classics Today, for example). Definitive? I don't know...but they're certainly not bad.

Sarge

"Not bad," that sounds like a ringing endorsement.  :)  I was tempted by the Deneve set, but in my patched-together collection, I think I have a recording of more-or-less everything in that box.  Does the RSNO muster a "French" sound?  Some of their recordings with Jarvi strike me as among the worst classical recordings ever.  Do they do better with Deneve and Naxos?


snyprrr

#152
Quote from: Scarpia on August 26, 2012, 08:25:20 AM
Roussel seems to lack a set of truly definitive recordings.   But there is little to complain of in Dutoit and Janowski.  I've never been disappointed by a Pretre recording of Roussel.  I'm curious about the Eschenbach.

Roussel is no more neglected than Webern, haha!

I've been scouring the Amazon reviews, and the Naxos set gets consistently high marks, whereas the Ondine series has garnered qualified praise. One reviewer in particular gave some quite specific recommendations, and, after looking over the choices (it appears Janowski has been reissued AGAIN on a 3cd Sony set of Roussel?), the Clutyens EMI 2cd set and the Erato 2cd of ballets and smaller pieces, seem to be one-stop shopping.


I listened to all my Roussel yesterday (also had Markevitch (DG) in the B&A suite). I was less taken with the cello Concertino and Pour une fete de printemps, but the Piano Concerto still packs a punch, with my favorite PC opening ever,... kind of 'Jaws'-like. Roussel waaas a man of the sea.

The B&A suite, also, wasn't really to my taste, though the mono Markevitch recording is spectacularly sumptuous. I couldn't find The Spider's Feast lurking anywhere.

As far as I know, Roussel has a string Sinfonietta, a Suite in F, a Petite Suite Op.39, AND a Concert for Petite Orchestra Op.34!! ??? I can barely keep them straight. ::) The Suite in F I found very Martinu-like, which means it was inoffensive but not particularly interesting to me, but I really enjoyed the Sinfonietta (which I get confused with the Poulenc), whose bracing rhythms and harmonies recall, slightly, Tippett's string orchestra. I haven't heard the latter two pieces.


I've only had Jarvi in the Symphonies 3-4, which all have said are too fast in the slow movements. The rest of the movements seem to conform to everyone else, though. I can see where the character of these slow movements might change a bit with slower tempos. At no time would I give this the 2 stars one reviewer did; Jarvi is fine, but maybe the recording is a bit over the top for such lean, muscular music. I can certainly hear improvements that I expect Clutyens would make (hopefully).

Somehow I feel that Roussel needs the previous recordings. I don't think I want my Roussel in modern digital perfection. His music belongs to the 20th century, so, maybe, should his recordings? Haha, maybe if the Ondine covers weren't so blatantly hideous, I might think more of the actual performance and recording! :o

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Scarpia on August 26, 2012, 08:58:46 AM
"Not bad," that sounds like a ringing endorsement.  :)  I was tempted by the Deneve set, but in my patched-together collection, I think I have a recording of more-or-less everything in that box.  Does the RSNO muster a "French" sound?  Some of their recordings with Jarvi strike me as among the worst classical recordings ever.  Do they do better with Deneve and Naxos?

I haven't done a direct comparison with any of the other versions in my collection (like Dutoit, Cluytens, Pretre). Sounds like an interesting project for next week. I'll be back  ;)

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

snyprrr

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on August 26, 2012, 09:17:14 AM
I haven't done a direct comparison with any of the other versions in my collection (like Dutoit, Cluytens, Pretre). Sounds like an interesting project for next week. I'll be back  ;)

Sarge

Did I mention that I'm spamming this Thread until TPTB do something about this Thread Title? Oh, after this, all my other sins will have long since washed away!

BUY ZOLOFT NOW!

BUY ZOLOFT NOW!

BUY Z...

snyprrr

You are going to WISH Roussel was a sadly neglected Composer when I get through spamming this Thread, bwa ha ha!! >:D

HEY!,... Brian Thread!!,... I'm comin' for YOU!! 8)



Superhorn

   I've been contacted by someone here about changing the name of this thread , but I'm not sure what it should be.
   Any one have any suggestions ?  How about "Roussel's Reality Check"?  "Roussel's Temple of  Doom?"  (Refers to the  temple
in his opera Padmavati where she meets her strange doom ).

Scarpia

Quote from: Superhorn on August 28, 2012, 07:38:50 AM
   I've been contacted by someone here about changing the name of this thread , but I'm not sure what it should be.
   Any one have any suggestions ?  How about "Roussel's Reality Check"?  "Roussel's Temple of  Doom?"  (Refers to the  temple
in his opera Padmavati where she meets her strange doom ).

How about, "Albert Roussel"


snyprrr

Quote from: Superhorn on August 28, 2012, 07:38:50 AM
   I've been contacted by someone here about changing the name of this thread , but I'm not sure what it should be.
   Any one have any suggestions ?  How about "Roussel's Reality Check"?  "Roussel's Temple of  Doom?"  (Refers to the  temple
in his opera Padmavati where she meets her strange doom ).

.Le Rue-Rue-Roussel.!! ;) ;D


Or, how about a nautical theme?,..mm,...  'The Roussel Compass',... 'Le Nautique Roussel',... 'Roussel: From Impressionism to Neo-Classicism',...

'Le Tarp Roussel',... 'Le Cafe Roussel',... 'Cafe Roussel',... I like that, but it makes it look like his name is Cafe! ::)

'Roullade a la Roussel',...

'Roussel's Roustabout',...

I just don't have good French.

'Le Parcel Roussel'