César Franck: Symphony in D Minor; Igor Stravinsky; Pétrouchka [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Cesar Franck (Composer), Igor Stravinsky (Composer), Pierre Monteux (Conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Bernard Zighera (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bernard Zighera
• Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Pierre Monteux
• Composer: Cesar Franck, Igor Stravinsky
• Audio CD (July 26, 2005)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B0009U55RO
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,463 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #67 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Historical Periods > Modern & 20th Century

Track Listings

1. Lento - Chicago Symphony Orchestra

2. Allegro - Chicago Symphony Orchestra

3. Allegro Non Troppo - Chicago Symphony Orchestra

4. Vivace

5. The Magic Trick

6. Russian Dance

7. Scene II: Petrouchka's Room

8. Feroce Stringendo

9. Dance Of The Ballerina

10. Valse

11. Con Moto

12. Wet Nurses' Dance

13. Peasant With Bear

14. Gypsies

15. Dance Of The Coachmen

16. Masqueraders

17. Scuffle

18. Death Of Petrouchka

19. Petrouchka's Ghost

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Franck's Symphony set ablaze, August 29, 2005

By 

Stephen J. Swellander (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: César Franck: Symphony in D Minor; Igor Stravinsky; Pétrouchka [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Franck's Symphony in D has never been a favorite of mine. For years I have owned Charles Dutoit's 1991 recording with the Montreal Symphony. Every now and then I take it out and try listening to it again, wondering if I'll ever really enjoy it. I've heard a few other recordings, and none have ever excited me much, until I finally heard this classic rendition by Pierre Monteux, recorded in 1961 with the Chicago Symphony.

Monteux captures the Wagnerian sweep of the first movement, but never takes it over the top. It is a marvelously controlled and insightful performance with astonishing sound. RCA recorded this performance in three channel Living Stereo with the same orchestra and venue as the famed Fritz Reiner recordings. On SACD, this sounds far more sumptuous and full than Dutoit's much later digital recording (and the Montrealers were Decca's audiophile superstars in the eighties and nineties). This is simply an essential recording of this piece.

The pairing is no less valuable. Monteux had a close association with Stravinsky, premiering Petroushka with Diaghelev in Paris and presiding over the infamous Rite of Spring riot. This recording, of course, is a much later performance, but it is no less exciting to hear the original master directing. There is no lack of wonderful Petroushka recordings around, many in fine, modern sound; however, this one is superlative in virtually every way. The sound is excellent, aside from a bit of stridency in some of the crescendos. Otherwise, this recording stands with the best of the modern ones, and the performance exceeds most of them.

Don't hesitate. The price certainly can't be beat, especially for a hybrid SACD.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Petrouchka!, February 8, 2007

By 

T. Lenthe (West Chester, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: César Franck: Symphony in D Minor; Igor Stravinsky; Pétrouchka [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Irrespective of SACD, the remastering is first rate. The Petrouchka is the most vivid and colorful I have ever heard. As the program notes state, Monteux conducted the premiere and clearly has unique insight into the music. This is a "must have" for any Stravinsky aficionado. Consider the Franck an extra bonus, but buy the disk (at a bonus price, to boot) for the Pretrouchka!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Minor course correction, August 12, 2006

By 

Wayne A. (Belfast, Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: César Franck: Symphony in D Minor; Igor Stravinsky; Pétrouchka [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

The Franck recording was state-of-the-art for its time and even today vintage RCA recordings from this era are stand-outs. The SACD is terrific. I'm bewildered anyone would find the sound quality bad or, worse, dismiss the works of engineers of that era who often got spectacular results even in mono! Perhaps if ones ears are tuned entirely to technicolor Telarc stuff...

The Franck D-Minor, for reasons not quite obvious, is not wearing well with time and it's likely that it's one of those extremely Romantic works that needs a highly committed performance to bring it off well. I honestly haven't heard a modern (meaning last 40 years or so) performance that's done that--the temperament is of a wholly different age. However, a top-notch performance sells the work and you get it here, in the Munch recording with the BSO, with an old Silvestri recording from EMI, and with the classic Mengelberg that turns up in various incarnations.

As far as Monteux doing any Stravinsky goes there's no discussion. He got to the heart (and I mean heart) of these works, totally demolishing the myth that Stravinsky was a cold composer.