Albert Roussel - yes or no - Piston's idea!

[Lance]

CMG's PISTON brought this up in Sylph's RAVEL thread.

Me? Not generally. It's just not my cup of tea. I have many recordings of his works by major conductors/performers, but am never "sent." I'm just being honest. He gets little hearing from me these days. Perhaps his time will come.

Any specific works of Roussel you might name as being among the best of his output?

[pizza]

CMG's PISTON brought this up in Sylph's RAVEL thread.

Me? Not generally. It's just not my cup of tea. I have many recordings of his works by major conductors/performers, but am never "sent." I'm just being honest. He gets little hearing from me these days. Perhaps his time will come.

Any specific works of Roussel you might name as being among the best of his output?

I enjoy Symphonies 2 and 3; there's also a superb recording on Chandos of his ballets Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43; Le Festin de l'araignée, Op. 17. with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier. Jean Martinon also recorded a fine Bacchus et Ariane 2nd Suite with the CSO but I don't think it's ever been transferred to CD; if it has, it may be on one of the large retrospective sets that have to be ordered directly from the CSO.

[val]

Roussel composed one of the great Symphonies of the 20th century: the 3rd. Listen to Bernstein playing it with the NYPO.

The opera-ballet Padmavati is also very beautiful and full of color.

Other good works: the 4th Symphony, the ballets Festin de l'araignée and Aeneas, the 2nd suite of Bacchus et Ariane (never heard the complete ballet).

Returning to the 3rd Symphony: a furious dynamic, a perfect articulation and balance. I see only two other French Symphonies composed in the 2oth century wit this level of inspiration: Dukas Symphony in C major and Dutilleux 2nd Symphony.

[Heck148]

Roussel composed one of the great Symphonies of the 20th century: the 3rd. Listen to Bernstein playing it with the NYPO.

yes a fine recording- equal, or possibly better is the Munch/CSO version from '67 - included in the archival set "CSO in 20th Century".

Bacchus and Ariane is a wonderful score also - Martinon/CSO ['64] was available from Lani Spahr[Locked in the Vault reissues]. he has ceased this operation, IIRC. again,munch/CSO did a fine live version of this in '66, presently NA

[PJME]

Do try the pianoconcerto. Arguably,not a "great" work (in a late Romantic sense), but the fast movements are full of joy and energy, the slow movement is mysterious and hauntingly beautiful !
"Evocations", on the other hand, is a major composition lasting ca 35-40 minutes. Three Indian cities are portrayed - the last one has soloists and a chorus and brings the work to a majestic close.

Excellent songs ( mélodies), elegant chambermusic. The symphonies are indeed very personal.

P.

[piston]

CMG's PISTON brought this up in Sylph's RAVEL thread.

Me? Not generally. It's just not my cup of tea. I have many recordings of his works by major conductors/performers, but am never "sent." I'm just being honest. He gets little hearing from me these days. Perhaps his time will come.

Any specific works of Roussel you might name as being among the best of his output?

I enjoy Symphonies 2 and 3; there's also a superb recording on Chandos of his ballets Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43; Le Festin de l'araignée, Op. 17. with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier. Jean Martinon also recorded a fine Bacchus et Ariane 2nd Suite with the CSO but I don't think it's ever been transferred to CD; if it has, it may be on one of the large retrospective sets that have to be ordered directly from the CSO.

On the Erato 2 CD-set 3984-24240-2, Martinon conducts the ORTF for the Spider's Banquet (both parts), Pour une fete de printemps, the Petite Suite, and Aeneas, op.54. The set further includes Dutoit/Orch. de Paris doing Bacchus et Ariane, Paillard doing the Sinfonietta, and an unidentified orchestra performing the Suite in F.

In addition to val's suggestion, above, I also would include the first symphony, "Poem of the Forest," which offers a classic example of an "impressionist" symphony.

P.S. It was a rhetorical question, Lance, but thanks for the poll!

[Seán]

Ay specific works of Roussel you might name as being among the best of his output?

I love his Third Symphony.

[karlhenning]

I like everything of his I've heard . . . though I can stand to get to know it all better still.

Cheers,
~Karl

[moldyoldie]

I can't think of anything of his (mostly Dutoit's on Erato) I haven't enjoyed.

[Sylph]

I can't think of anything of his (mostly Dutoit's on Erato) I haven't enjoyed.

Co-sign. Love Roussel.

[maestrob]

Roussel never did anything for me. I listen occasionally, but he's not important to my ears.

[THEHORN]

I have been a committed Roussel fan ever since I heard the Ansermet /Suisse Romande LP of his third and fourth symphonies many years ago. I believe these have been available on the huge boxed set of Ansermet recordings on Decca.
I also love his exotic"Evocations" which I have on Supraphon with Kosler and the Czech Phil. This is based on the composer's visit to the magnificent ancient temples of Indochina, and is an orchestral triptych with a chorus and vocal soloists in the third part. If you haven't heard this, you're in for a treat. You'll wonder why no one ever preforms this. The only other recording I know of is on EMI with Plasson/Toulouse, but I haven't hrard it.
I don't know if either of these is still available, but check arkivmusic.com. You really ought to hear this.

[stenka razin]

Roussel has written at least three very easily digested orchestral masterpieces. The 3rd and 4th Symphonies and the Suite in F. Then what about the Bacchus and Ariane ballet music and the Sandman? Lovely scores, too. Lots more of Roussel is available. Lovely chamber music and his opera Padmavati is quite captivating. A wonderful composer.

[Febnyc]

The nicest Roussel piece I've heard is his stage music for Le Marchand de sable qui passé (The passing Sandman). Excerpted and score for nonet, this is a lovely chamber suite. Actually, Roussel's smaller pieces interest me more than the orchestral ones, which don't affect me very much. His First Symphony ("The Poem of the Forest") I find most interesting of that lot.

[Lance]

Some good responses. Perhaps I have been unfair to Roussel. I will listen to some of the suggestions again. The poll turned out better than I expected.

[Donaldopato]

All four symphonies are interesting, but 3 and 4 are the standouts in my book. # 3 is one of the great 20th century symphonies.

For an excellent modern budget set, do not miss the Stéphane Denève Royal Scottish National Orchestra survey of the orchestral works. Quite good.

[Seán]

All four symphonies are interesting, but 3 and 4 are the standouts in my book. # 3 is one of the great 20th century symphonies.

For an excellent modern budget set, do not miss the Stéphane Denève Royal Scottish National Orchestra survey of the orchestral works. Quite good.

I prefer the André Cluytens/Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire version. There is a gorgeous sound from that orchestra particularly the woodwinds.

[Seán]

Some good responses. Perhaps I have been unfair to Roussel. I will listen to some of the suggestions again. The poll turned out better than I expected.

Perish the thought Lance, but if you haven't already heard it perhaps you might give the Cluytens version a try.

[Corlyss_D]

I can't think of anything of his (mostly Dutoit's on Erato) I haven't enjoyed.

Ditto. His Spider's Feast is one of the oldest recordings in my collection.

[Chalkperson]

Some good responses. Perhaps I have been unfair to Roussel. I will listen to some of the suggestions again. The poll turned out better than I expected.

I'm with you, I have a number of CD's but never listen to them more than once or twice, certainly not a Composer who gets on my Weekend Playlist...that's when Downtown New York has no traffic noise, in fact Memorial Day you can hear a pin drop down here, the perfect day for pianissimo works, up for this year are Koechlin's Piano Works, 2CD's on Hanssler, lots of Harp Music, Hildegarde Von Bingen by the Anonymous Four, some Folk Songs by the Trio Mediaeval and La Callas's Puccini Arias, I can't wait to hear those 50 year old floating notes...

[piston]

And please do observe that Ravel and Roussel are both composers of the first third of the twentieth century. With Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger (and the lesser known in the group), along with Koechlin, Françaix, etc., one reaches beyond the middle of the same century.

[Corlyss_D]

Poulenc, Françaix,

Love them too. I've heard Francaix's The Flower Clock twice this year when I hadn't heard it in 40.

[nut-job]

I prefer the André Cluytens/Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire version. There is a gorgeous sound from that orchestra particularly the woodwinds.

This one is beautiful, the sonorities of a French orchestra complement this music well.

[johnQpublic]

I feel the same as Lance...

[piston]

For harp lovers only:

[Wallingford]

I mainly like his stuff. A colorful orchestrator. His melodies don't really etch themselves onto my memory.

I like Bacchus & Ariane Suite #2 & The Spider's Feast. Paray did a fine one of the latter (mono-LP era).