Customer Reviews

Munch Conducts Saint-Saens, Franck, Indy, Honegger, Roussel, Ibert

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These are brilliant , definitive performances of several French orches-
tral works. Munch and the BSO are in top form, particularly in the Franck
and Saint-Saens symphonies (the former every bit as good as the Monteux
Chicago CD and the latter a long-established classic rendition that war-horse. I found,unlike some reviewers that the tempi in the Saint-Saens were just right and not rushed and hectic as some have said; the remain-
der of the performances are equally fine and valuable because of their
relative obscurity - I loved the Ibert Escales and the D'Indy, and the
Honegger Symphony 5 and Roussel Bacchus are also top=notch. However, I do have one complaint that has nothing to do with the seller, and that is
the cheap packaging from RCA France. Why must they insist on minmal pack-
aging with liner notes only in French that are sketchy at best and say
almost nothing about the repertoire. Surely a record company could do better than this, especially where such peerless performances are in-
volved? Still, I would not hesitate to recommend the set to anyone inte-
rested in either this repertoire or this conductor. The performances will
not disappoint.