Milhaud: Le carnaval d'Aix; Le carnaval de Londres; L'apothéose de Molière; Le bœuf sur le toit [Import]

Darius Milhaud (Composer), Ronald Corp (Conductor), New London Orchestra (Orchestra), Jack Gibbons (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Jack Gibbons
• Orchestra: New London Orchestra
• Conductor: Ronald Corp
• Composer: Darius Milhaud
• Audio CD (August 10, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Hyperion UK
• ASIN: B00026W66S
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,224 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colorful Music Beautifully Performed, August 16, 2007

By 

D. A Wend (Arlington Heights, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Milhaud: Le carnaval d'Aix; Le carnaval de Londres; L'apothéose de Molière; Le bœuf sur le toit (Audio CD)

This excellent collection of music by Darius Milhaud was issued for his centenary in 1992 and has some familiar and some not so familiar music. Le boeuf sur le toit (composed in 1917) is perhaps the composers most famous work and is a collection of melodies, tangos, sambas etc. that Milhaud heard while secretary to Paul Claudel, the Ambassador to Brazil. At one time Milhaud thought Le boeuf sur le toit might be good music for a Charlie Chaplin film but Jean Cocteau, instead, turned it into a ballet. The ballet was a scandalous success and made Milhaud in demand. This performance has plenty of Gallic charm and wit.

Darius Milhaud was a performer as well as a composer and Le carnival d'Aix (1926) was written with a piano part for the composer. The music was reworked from an earlier ballet named Salade (from 1924) and is a colorful work in twelve sections some of which are based on dance melodies, such as polka and tango; it is a captivating work; the piano part is nicely played by Jack Gibbons with all the spontaneity demanded by the composer.

L'apotheose de Moliere was a work that I was unfamiliar with; it is a short suite for small orchestra and harpsichord based on music by Baptiste Anet. The suite was written in 1948, commissioned by Italian Radio. It is an elegant and charming work that I would not suspect such a neo-classical work by Milhaud but it possesses the Gallic charm of the composer. This kind of music is not Milhaud's forte and does not come up to similar works by Stravinsky but the music has an appeal for me. The carnival de Londres from 1937 was also unfamiliar. The melodies used in this work come from an adaptation of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera that Milhaud had prepared for Radio Marseille. It is a light-hearted and charming work, consisting of 26 brief sections, containing music with Milhaud's usual wit and charm.

The New London Orchestra under Ronald Corp turns in a fantastic performance and the booklet by Robert Matthew-Walker provides an excellent look at Darius Milhaud's orchestral music. The music is beautifully recorded and at the re-issue price is a disc

3.0 out of 5 stars repertoire top drawer, performance less so, June 6, 2011

By 

jjmmkk (Millbrook, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Milhaud: Le carnaval d'Aix; Le carnaval de Londres; L'apothéose de Molière; Le bœuf sur le toit (Audio CD)

I was looking for a lively performance of Boeuf Sur Le Toit and chose this recording for the several works I was unfamiliar with. I don't regret the choice as the works are all quite lovely and the performances sensitive. In all of them , including Boeuf, the New London Orchestra under Donald Corp does an excellent job of bringing out fascinating and quirky secondary voices that marvelously enrich the experience of the works, Boeuf included. That being said these are, overall, rhythmically bland renditions. This is perhaps not so important in the lesser known works but for Boeuf sensitivity is less called for than unbridled high spirits and in that regard, this well considered performance is decidedly underwhelming.