Ballet hybrids often eclipse the originals from which they are drawn and such is the case with the music on this disc. Including such popular pieces as the ‘Can Can’ from Orpheus in the Underworld and the ‘Barcarolle’ from The Tales of Hoffman, there is possibly no better recording on the market than Solti’s Gaite Parisienne, no recording which fizzes and explodes with such unstoppable energy! Just listen!
The coupling is the familiar Faust ballet music that Gounod appended to the score, plus a rarity – Respighi’s arrangement of a number of Rossini pieces as Rossiniana – a beautiful score that is somewhat eclipsed by La Boutique Fantasque.
JACQUES OFFENBACH
arr. Maurice Rosenthal
1-21 Gaîté Parisienne
CHARLES GOUNOD
22 Faust – ballet music
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Sir Georg Solti
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
arr. Ottorino Respighi
23-26 Rossiniana
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet
Recording Producers: John Culshaw, Ray Minshull (Offenbach, Gounod); John Mordler (Rossini/Respighi)
Balance Engineers: Kenneth Wilkinson (Offenbach, Gounod); James Lock (Rossini/Respighi)
Recording Locations: Kingsway Hall, May 1960 (Offenbach, Gounod); Victoria Hall, Geneva, February 1967 (Rossini/Respighi)
‘A sense of freedom informs Ernest Ansermet’s stirring performance of Respighi’s clever Rossini arrangements and paraphrases, marvelously played by the Suisse Romande orchestra… a well planned and highly enjoyable program’ ClassicsToday.com
‘There’s plenty of colour and sparkle in Solti’s Gaîté Parisienne … the various dances spring with vitality thanks to the conductor’s emphasis on rhythm and articulation’ ClassicsToday.com
‘The 1961 recording has satisfying presence and fullness … a well planned and highly enjoyable program’ ClassicsToday.com