Customer Reviews

IBERT: Diane de Poitiers / La Licorne

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Prior to hearing this, I had considered Ibert's music clever, but not anything with much depth. Some of it (eg..Golgotha)would even be considered as banal.
But this is great life-asserting and tuneful music, the kind that stays with you for days after you hear it. Ibert is not to be ignored, the Reading of the Gaol and this CD is another must-hear by this composer.
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This CD includes the music for "Diane de Poitiers" as well as "La Licorne." I found the conventional music of "Diane de Poitiers" (written in the 1930s) more satisfying than the more modern, more discordant "La Licorne" (dating to 1948-9).

I enjoy listening to "Diane de Poitiers," but I find it difficult to visualize it as a ballet. Most of the music has the slow, stately pace of a procession; it seems more appropriate for a series of tableaux than an actual ballet. But certainly the tableaux would be very sumptuous. I particularly like the haunting, lyrical melody of "The Merchant of Electuaries."

Oddly enough, there are multiple tracks for "Diane," but only a single track for "La Licorne." I found that inconvenient, since I like to replay particular sections that interest me. Perhaps that's the reason I have only a general impression that the "Licorne" music is too discordant, and somehow feels more like a film score than a ballet.

My other complaint about the album is that the sound was recorded at too low a level. If I don't crank the volume way up, I miss the many quiet musical passages. (Admittedly, my CD system is modest - perhaps those with better speakers would not be affected.)

Still, it's interesting to hear two examples of early and middle 20th-century ballet music, and I'm happy to have this album in my collection.