Customer Reviews

Strauss: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme / Divertimento op. 86

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There has been some criticism of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra of late, comments that perhaps they have gotten stale, or lost their way. I haven't heard them lately and can't comment about that. But I can certainly recommend this recording from 1993 which shows them off at their best. These are two of Richard Strauss's most beguiling scores and they're not often heard in concert.

The Divertimento is one of a handful of neo-classical works that Strauss wrote late in his life. Based on music of François Couperin, it maintains the delicacy and charm of the earlier composer's style but adds in those delicious Straussian orchestrations and sweet-tart harmonies. Orpheus plays the score with loving attention to detail and just the right amount of Schwung.

The incidental music to 'Le bourgeois gentihomme' is, in a way, companion to Strauss's opera 'Ariadne auf Naxos'. Strauss's and Hofmannstahl's original intention was to provide incidental music for a performance of Molière's play 'Le bourgeois gentilhomme' followed by a one-act opera based on the work mentioned in Molière, 'Ariadne auf Naxos.' This was indeed done but eventually Strauss and Hofmannsthal wrote a prolog to the opera and abandoned the play per se. Still, the play's incidental music, also written in neoclassical style, survives and it contains some of Strauss's most ironically delightful music. It is played here with grace and style by Orpheus.

This is a marvelous disc and I see that it is being offered by some of Amazon's associated vendor at a reduced price. It's worth every penny.

Scott Morrison