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Track(s) taken from CDA67323

Sérénade

composer
1934

Ulster Orchestra, Thierry Fischer (conductor)
Recording details: September 2001
Ulster Hall, Belfast, United Kingdom
Produced by Chris Hazell
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: April 2002
Total duration: 8 minutes 43 seconds
 

Reviews

‘Again and again while listening to Thierry Fischer's ebullient performances I smile and wish that I had met Jean Françaix’ (Gramophone)

‘An hour of pure joy’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The Ulster Orchestra sound captivated by this music, as well they might … pure pleasure from beginning to end’ (International Record Review)

‘This collection serves to remind us what 20th-century joys can be found away from the fashionable modernists. The Ulster players may not actually be French, but they fooled me. An utter delight’ (The Times)

‘The Ulster Orchestra has acquired a deserved reputation for the strength of its sectional work and the quality of its soloists, both aspects of performance that come to the fore in Françaix … highly recommended’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Thoroughly entertaining and immensely intelligent’ (The Evening Standard)

‘Thierry Fischer secures some authentically Gallic character from the Ulster Orchestra … wonderful’ (Yorkshire Post)

«Très bien composé, ce nouveau disque témoigne parfaitement des influences et des particularismes de l’art clair et spirituel de Françaix» (Répertoire, France)
A well-known pre-war recording of Françaix’ music was of his Sérénade for small orchestra by the Hamburg Chamber Orchestra under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. It is in four movements – Vif; Andantino con moto; Un poco allegretto; Vivace – and can be played by twelve instrumentalists (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone and string quintet), as well as with a fuller string strength, as here. The Sérénade, a highly entertaining work of 1934, may appear indebted to Stravinsky at his most neo-classical, but pre-dates the latter’s similar Dumbarton Oaks.

from notes by Robert Matthew-Walker © 2002

Un enregistrement célèbre de l’entre-deux-guerres de la musique de Françaix se trouve être la Sérénade pour orchestre de chambre avec l’Orchestre de chambre de Hambourg placé sous la direction de Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. Cette partition en quatre mouvements – Vif, Andantino con moto, Un poco allegretto, Vivace – peut être exécutée par douze instrumentistes (flûte, hautbois, clarinette, basson, cor, trompette, trombone et quintette de cordes) tout comme par un orchestre symphonique complet comme ici. Page divertissante de 1934, la Sérénade peut donner l’impression d’être largement redevable à Stravinsky au zénith de son néo-classicisme ; elle est pourtant antérieure à Dumbarton Oaks qui lui ressemble.

extrait des notes rédigées par Robert Matthew-Walker © 2002
Français: Isabelle Battioni

Eine vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg entstandene und weithin bekannte Aufnahme von Françaix’ Musik war die seiner Sérénade für kleines Orchester, eingespielt vom Hamburger Kammerorchester unter Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. Sie hat vier Sätze – Vif, Andantino con moto, Un poco allegretto, Vivace – und kann entweder von zwölf Instrumentalisten gespielt werden (Flöte, Oboe, Klarinette, Fagott, Horn, Trompete, Posaune und Streichquintett) oder wie im vorliegenden Fall mit erweiterter Streicherabteilung. Die Sérénade, ein höchst unterhaltsames Stück aus dem Jahr 1934, mag zwar den Eindruck erwecken, als sei sie Strawinsky in seiner besonders neoklassizistischen Phase verpflichtet, wurde jedoch vor dessen ähnlichem Werk Dumbarton Oaks komponiert.

aus dem Begleittext von Robert Matthew-Walker © 2002
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

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