Customer Reviews

Milhaud: La Création du monde; Le boeuf sur le toit; Suite provençale

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here we have three of Milhaud's greatest hits and one that should be, all in performances that are as fine as any I've heard. "La Creation" gets a really all-stops-pulled-out reading, with the Lille musicians tossing around more hot licks than I've heard except perhaps on Bernstein's old EMI recording. Just about any French conductor should be able to turn in a lively rendition of "Le Boeuf," yet this one sparkles in a very special way. And I like Casadesus' "Suite provencale" even more than Charles Munch's (on RCA), which I thought was just about perfect.

One thing that the current recording has going for it is just about the best sound that's ever been accorded these popular works. Maybe it's the venue, the Auditorium du Noveau Siecle in Lille, or maybe it's Mike Clements, one of today's finest sound engineers. Maybe it's a special kind of synergy. Anyhow, this is a fabulous-sounding disc.

Finally, there is "L'homme et son desir." I don't know whether to call this a poor-man's "Les Noces" (Stravinsky) or a rich-man's "Ballet Mechanique" (Antheil), but whatever, it is one of Milhaud's most unusual and beguiling creations, replete with a weird vocalise for four soloists and huge percussion section featuring a whip and a police whistle! The piece is available in what might be a considered a definitive performance by the composer himself, except this one from Casadesus is every bit as good, if not a little livelier, and of course it is in up-to-the-minute sound. So as I say, even if you'll be getting your third (or fourth) version of "La Creation du monde," don't miss this very special CD.

Composer Darius Milhaud's music is not always easy to describe. He is influenced by the legacy of classical composers from his native France which forms the basic framework of his music. He was also influenced by trends in classical music by other composers who were his contemporaries as well as by the jazz movement. Some of his music also has a Latin/Brazilian feel to it which means that you're never quite sure oaf what you'll hear when it comes to Milhaud's music but one thing is certain, it may be a bit challenging but it will be enjoyable.

This disc from Naxos contains four pieces from the Milhaud catalogue. The first piece is "La Creation du Monde" which the liner notes states is Milhaud's best known work though I would believe that at least to American audiences, the familiar Brazilian strains of "Le Boeuf sur le Toit" would have that distinction. "La Creation" is a combination of French classical and jazz and was originally a ballet. "Le Boeuf" has a Brazilian and jazz feel to it and was originally written as a background piece for a silent film. "Suite Provencale" would be the most traditional work of the set and his "L'Homme et son Desir" would for orchestra and wordless voices would be his most experimental.

The Orchestre National de Lille seems at home with Milhaud's music. They accept the challenges posed by pieces such as "La Creation" and "L'Homme,' play "Suite Provencale" in a robust manner and have fun with "La Boeuf." Conductor Jean-Claude Casadesus seems to not gusty be familiar with the scores but as respect for the composer as well as his interpretations show. Naxos also has to be credited for providing a disc of not so familiar music so that listeners can get to know the music of an important 20th century composer.

Many listeners ease into classical music gradually, starting with the mainstream composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, etc. Then they may listen to more modern composers such as Ravel, Debussy, Copland, and perhaps Stravinsky. Some get hooked on Mahler, Sibelius, Wagner, and so forth - but how many have listened to the delightful music of Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)? This new release from Naxos offers some of Milhaud's most famous compositions in excellent performances at a budget price, and is thus a CD that anyone who enjoys classical music might want to give an audition.

With his liberal use of instruments such as the saxophone, Milhaud frequently puts something of a jazzy spin into these compositions, and his vivid use of voice and percussion makes his music a treat for the ears. There is rhythm, there is melody, there is color, there is joy. This is fun, fun stuff that you really ought to hear.

This is an excellent recording. I was dying to listen to L'homme et son desir. I have an old copy of it which I absolutely love---a recording from the 1960s, performed by the Utah Symphony Orchestra (Maurice Abravanel). Unfortunately, I didn't have the album with me, hence my buying this CD. I was not disappointed.

Get some good speakers and don't be afraid to turn up the volume!

Darius Milhaud deserves to be far better remembered than he is today. His witty, charming compositions, with their infectious jazz and samba rhythms and Mediterranean intensity of orchestral color, deserve to be ranked among the greatest achievements of 20th-century French music. He was the compatriot and equal of Satie, Poulenc and Honegger, as well as a beloved teacher whose wildly varied pupils included William Bolcom, Dave Brubeck and Burt Bacharach. (Brubeck even named one of his sons Darius in Milhaud's honor.)

This disc by Jean-Claude Casadesus and the Orchestre Nationale de Lille is sort of a Milhaud "Greatest Hits" album. It does justice to these delightful works and whets listeners' appetites to seek out more of Milhaud's music. In "La Creation du Monde," the opening tempo was a little too slow for my taste, but that is my only criticism of these superb and totally idiomatic performances.

As is often the case with Naxos recordings, the sound engineering here is terrible-really almost substandard even for private archive recordings. This is not always the case with Naxos, but for the audiophiles on Amazon, look elsewhere.