Franck: Symphony In D Minor, Les Eolides

Cesar Franck (Composer), Kurt Masur (Conductor), New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: New York Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Kurt Masur
• Composer: Cesar Franck
• Audio CD (March 9, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Teldec
• ASIN: B000000SG6
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #482,964 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony in D minor, Op. 48: I. Lento - Allegro Non Troppo

2. Symphony in D minor, Op. 48: II. Allegretto

3. Symphony in D minor, Op. 48: III. Allegro Non Troppo

4. Les Éolides, symphonic poem for orchestra (also arr. for 2 pianos)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not an alternative at any price, July 27, 2000

By 

Mark McCue (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Franck: Symphony In D Minor, Les Eolides (Audio CD)

Here we have yet another sludgy, dark, Teutonic Franck traversal, almost as unremittingly terrible as the Mehta/Berlin that's out there wasting our ears. I've never known Masur to have anything much to say anywhere. He has even less here.

I can't say I wax enthusiastic about any of the Amazon reviewer's suggested alternatives. The Oterloo is a pretty good stab at it, open and airy, well-planned and thoughtful, but a great work deserves better. The Monteux is dark, undiomatic, a little scrappy, heavy, overpraised (it's fashionable to call this a classic, yet it's full of sound gimmicks and some audible edits--sheez). Flor isn't bad, more like the Oterloo, but it lacks any personality and the great originality of the work is obfuscated when the orchestra slides into playing in patterns. How many takes were involved in it?

Try Paul Paray on Mercury. Here you have the great Gallican maestro and his superb Detroit Symphony giving us all the power, drama, sincerity and confidence that Franck put on the page. If you're used to the Papa Franck from bad Music Appreciation classes, it will startle you. Your jaw will really drop when it dawns on you that all this excitement came from an old man of 80 and that each movement is a single take. On top of it, you get the Rachmaninoff Second in the issue. It's not appropriate to discuss it here, but you'll be just as amazed.

Eolides has gotten much better "advocacy" than this perfunctory Masur sessiontoo. Try Ansermet or Cluytens to get full measure of the work.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor recording, March 28, 2004

By 

Prescott Cunningham Moore (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Franck: Symphony In D Minor, Les Eolides (Audio CD)

Buying Masur (for me at least) has always been hit or miss. Take, for example, his recording of the Dvorak 8th and the Janácek Sinfonietta - an amazing performance of both of these works. Large brass sounds, responsive playing, interesting, well thought-out interpretations. His recordings of the Beethoven overtures for Phillips are equally thrilling. On the other hand, take his recording of the Beethoven 5th. It seems like a different conductor and orchestra than in the Dvorak/Janácek performance. Here we find a bored orchestra playing a concert staple with no energy, no emotion, no nothing. That is what you will find here in this recording of Frank's only symphony. The energy of the piece is totally destroyed and we are left with a mediocre performance of this great romantic work. Look elsewhere.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gimme Tone Poem, December 18, 2010

By 

Peter P. Fuchs (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Franck: Symphony In D Minor, Les Eolides (Audio CD)

The Franck Symphony is, as other reviewers here have noted, incredibly dull in this performances. But every once in a while Kurt Masur had an off day, and produced something exciting. The Tone Poem Les Eolides is excellently performed, exciting, and filled with unexpected detail and flourishes. It seems normally Masur, when in his mettle, produced workmanlike readings. But there were always exceptions, when his conductorly gears stopped grinding and he actually got inspired. .