Customer Reviews

Paul Paray Conducts Dances of Death

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A strange hodgepodge of music, but the program works. The major piece here is Florent Schmitt's "La Tragedie de Salome," recorded here the year of Schmitt's death (1958), undoubtedly by a man who knew the composer personally (Paray was the composer's junior by 16 years, and both men had a relationship with the Concerts Colonne). The recording was the only one with which Paray and the Detroit Symphony would win the Grand Prix du Disque. The music is a cross between Debussy and Roussel, with a decided tilt toward the former. The poem (by Robert d'Humieres) on which this suite is based is much more "of the open air" than the claustrophobic Salome of Wilde/Strauss, and while the characters are the same, the action is completely different from the Biblical story, a loose, stream-of-consciousness rewriting. Schmitt dedicated the score to Stravinsky, who was delighted with the work, and in fact the work anticipates "The Rite of Spring." Paray's vision of the music is nothing short of overwhelming.

The remainder of the program includes the "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Strauss' "Salome;" the transparency of sound achieved by Paray allows one to hear inner voices and odd instrumental couplings not often heard even in digital recordings. The Liszt, Weber and Saint-Saens were recorded a year later with that lovely, lean Mercury Living Presence sound we get from the dry acoustics of Ford Auditorium. The cellos have a certain bite; there's no false engineering here - "Just the facts, Ma'am." The Liszt "Mephisto Waltz" (did you know that the orchestral version preceded the piano version?) features impeccable, precise playing by the DSO. Weber's "Invitation to the Dance" gives us Paray's trademark of keeping it moving, certainly no time for a lilt - and listen to it - who needs one anyway when there's such a drive? Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre" gives us a violin solo by the great Misha Mishakoff (Toscanini's then Paray's concertmaster). He and Paray bring out all the ghoulish humor of the piece.

Paray and the Detroit Symphony at their finest. Who could ask for anything more??

This disk is selling a lot of copies since it represents the finest of Epernay vintages at a Korbel price.

Absolutely the only thing I would argue with here is that Paray didn't use a soprano for the wordless descant in the Schmitt...here it's relegated to oboe, which Schmitt allowed, but what a soloist he is! Paray makes a case for Schmitt's counterpoint, of all things, but it makes superb sense: this is a ballet after all and the only way a dancer would hear what she needs from the pit is to hear the beat and the counterpoint. No one else has ever thought of it and it says quite a bit about the standard of Schmitt as a composer. As ever, you end up learning something every time you listen to one of Paray's uniformly inspired performances. Too bad he didn't essay Malipiero's Pantea which is designed idependently but separately for solo dancer!

The balance of the disk is no less exemplary. Everything sounds fresh, the orchestral execution is so astonishingly accomplished that it is no wonder Le Mousnier in his bio of Paray draws telling parallels with Toscanini. Yet Paray's not Toscanini--he's unique among maestri. If you read transcripts from Paray's rehearsals, the mystery only deepens as to what it was that he did to get such inordinately extraordinary results, such as this program demonstrates. He talks a lot, is very literate, tells lots of jokes, conveys his admiration of his musicians constantly.

But lots of great maestri have done that. We'll probably never know...and that's the mystery of great art.

I'd like to point out something missed by the previous reviewer: this was Paray's only STEREO Grand Prix du Disque. He and the Detroit Symphony won three others for work in Mercury's exemplary monaural sessions. Luckily I have my old vinyl of these, but I wish I could share their felicities with others, especially the astounding work in Beethoven and Brahms.

Paul Paray built literally to Detroit Symphony , elevating his average performances in a real triumph . He gave balance , nuance and above all a deep expresiveness in every page he conducted . His predilect taste for the french music , however was not a serious obstacle to win in other battlefields .
This album is the best proof for this statement . The Macabre dance or the Mephisto waltz until the moment has not any other recording that even gets close in fierce intensity, dyonisiac fire and powerful wildness .
Buy this one . Its interpretative values are so many that it's useless to describe with all the adjectives that deserves it.
Bravo for Paul Paray!

Paul Paray and his Detroit Symphony Orchestra were top exponents of a variety of classical music in the post-World War II Era. Paray, born in French-Canada, became an American icon in classical music at a time when Bernstein, Karajan, Solti and other brand name conductors far outshone him. In this album, Paray creatively compiles fatalistic music- that is music in which death or tragedy is mixed with the art of dancing. The first track is Lizst's popular Mephisto Waltz, a frenzy of fingering on the piano. Liszt was known for having a penchant for music that was both sensual and even frightening in its primal force. Weber's Invitation to the Dance is a rondo for piano and sounds excellent in symphonic form. Saint Saens Danse Macabre is, inevitably, on this recording and sounds dark and lilting at the same time. Strauss' Salome and Schmitt's Salomes are two different versions of the same story. Herod's wicked daughter falls for the languishing Prophet John the Baptist and after he rejects her advances asks for his head on a platter. Schmidtt's version is the more obscure rendition while Strauss' opera is more popular. Both are excellent danceable but dark musical pieces. This is a great recording and if you are into this kind of music you will definately enjoy it.

For those who only know Paray's "dance moves" in the light opera overtures he was so famous for playing, you might be surprised that he can do the same in these rather more serious compositions. Too often, conductors think that compositions such as those here need to be done in a lugubrious manner. Not so! And Paray proves it. You won't hear a better Danse Macabre than the one on this recording. And the Mephisto Waltz is performed here as a true dance -- not some sort of mini symphonic poem that you often hear with others. The Florent Schmitt Salome is one of the most successful renditions of the work ever recorded -- it was the first one in stereo, and it's outlasted all the others that have come since until the July 2007 release of Thierry Fischer's highly effective recording on Hyperion.

All in all, a very satisfying musical experience.

Does a CD containing 19th and early 20th century orchestral works by five European composers interest you? The music here is performed by the Detroit Symphony directed by Paul Paray (1886-1979). Paray kind of resurrected the DSO and served as its Music Director 1952-1963. The five selections were recorded in two different Detroit concert halls in 1958 and 1959. Next some comments about each composition.

1. Liszt - Mephisto Waltz (10:42) recorded in Ford Auditorium, 1959

This orchestral version was completed _before_ the more familiar arrangement for solo piano. Compare the two and see which you prefer. I'm guessing there aren't many extant recordings of the orchestral one. I loved it.

2. Weber - Invitation to the Dance (9:11) recorded in Ford, 1959

This is Hector Berlioz' orchestration of a Weber piano work (titled "Aufforderung Zum Tanze". I'd love to hear it. Can anyone suggest where I'd find it at a reasonable price?) There is a very pleasing slow introduction followed by a couple waltzes, quick and slow. Berlioz also has a clever false ending (at about 8:32); then the cellos play and the piece quietly concludes about 35 seconds later. With Berlioz, "expect the unexpected".

3. Saint-Saens - Danse Macabre (6:54) Ford, 1959

While this work has been often recorded, I doubt one can listen to a better played or vividly recorded rendition. Tempos seem perfect; brasses are brilliant.

4. R. Strauss - Dance of the Seven Veils (8:30) Orchestra Hall, 1958

In 1907 Strauss completed his opera "Salome" that tuned out to be popular (after a couple earlier ones that weren't). This dance, containing some nice woodwind playing, appears to have been written to stand alone should the opera not be completed or fail. Whether or not one has heard the complete opera (I haven't yet), the music is fairly typical of Strauss at this period and is thoroughly enjoyable.

5. Florent Schmitt - La Tragedie de Salome (26:49) Orchestra Hall, 1958

Concluding, we have a work which was given its first performance in 1907 and then rearranged into the present suite, which premiered in 1911 under the baton of Gabriel Pierne. At nearly 27 minutes, the suite is by far the longest item on this CD and is played pretty much without pause. It's appealing music after you've listened to it a few times. When the LP version came out in the late 1950s, I suspect there were very few if any recordings of the Schmitt on the market. This might still be the case, though I think I own a Marco Polo CD of the complete original score.

Containing a typically splendid and memorable Mercury cover, this compact disc is totally recommended to those interested in: these compositions; or Maestro Paray; or the DSO in its late 1950s "golden era". As mentioned, the recording venue changed (from Orchestra Hall in 1958 to Ford Auditorium a year later), and I am curious about why Mercury (meaning probably its chief engineer, C. Robert Fine) decided to switch locations. One possibility: the then dilapidated condition of Orchestra Hall (falling plaster, spiders, perhaps other animals). Or was there another reason? Certainly it wouldn't seem to have been the less than ideal acoustic of Ford Auditorium? Perhaps either Musical Supervisor Harold Lawrence or Recording Director Wilma Cozart Fine, if still with us, could answer the question.

Tim Koerner
November 2008