Music of Richard Strauss, Franz Liszt, Erich Korngold, Ferrucio Bussoni, Franz Shreker
Suisse Romande Orchestra/Kazuki Yamada
Pentatone 5186 518
Total Time:  65:34
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Under legendary conductor Ernst Ansermet, the Suisse Romande Orchestra set the standard for recorded performances of much French and even Russian music, especially that of the 20^th Century.  The unique repertoire recorded by the orchestra for Decca/London came at precisely the time of the label’s new recording techniques which put the orchestra in further great light.  Pentatone has a reputation for fabulous state-of-the-art sound with multi-channel recording on their hybrid CDs one of the many amazing sonic wonders of their releases.  So it is a good match to bring the SRO to this label.  The unfortunate thing is that the art design is tremendously lacking and without even a catchy title to grab one’s attention it may very well be overlooked.  (One could argue that it is unnecessary in an age of on-line browsing where composer and works are searched more than a classical CD title!)  The present release finds the orchestra led by Kazuki Yamada, the orchestra’s principal guest conductor.  He may be more familiar to listeners of choral music as he has made several recordings with the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus.

The theme of the present release appears to be one of the dance and specifically the waltz, though in some of its more stretched and unique incarnations that are closer to modern expressions than those of Johann Strauss, Jr.   The orchestra’s penchant for incorporating the “familiar” alongside the less well known is on brilliant display in this very unique program.  Not sure Ravel’s La valse would have fit on this already ample program (and as good as that might have been, there are already plenty good versions), but the sense of decadent dissolution of the dance forms are an interesting thread that runs through these pieces.

The program opens and closes with two familiar works by Richard Strauss.  We are treated to the seductive “Dance of the Seven Veils” from Salome and the first sequence of waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier.  The Salome work opens with a flurry of exciting energy and activity giving way to a very seductive performance.  The shifts between lush moments and those with more exposed solos allows for perfect sonic contrasts captured here.  The performance here is nothing short of exhilarating and very well shaped with a conclusion that makes you want to jump to your feet.  When the Rosenkavalier waltzes appear it feels like a bit of a wistful reflection to the bygone era of dance.  The music is equally well shaped here and makes for a wonderful conclusion to the disc.  The Strauss works bookend four widely different compositions.

It is interesting to hear Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz  in its early chromatic writing that would go on to influence Strauss and others.  Again it is the orchestral detail that really shines here.  The opening pizzicato set against wind writing is superb.  The energy and overall shape of the performance makes it easily jump to the top of performances on disc.  The result is a performance that takes one back to the early days when one first heard this great piece of music.  Half of the program is devoted to more unique pieces.  The first of these is the rarely heard Straussiana (1953) by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.  Originally commissioned to be playable by a student orchestra, it would turn out to be one of the composer’s last orchestral pieces.  He quotes lesser known Strauss melodies, adjusting the style to be more to American taste and not without some flashes of Hollywood brilliance.  To say this is a delight would be an understatement.  The opening magical pizzicato section is just wonderful and it simply gets more delightful.  Why is this not on pops programs more often?  Also included is Busoni’s Tanzwalzer, an attempt by the composer to try his hand at less serious subject matter in this homage of sorts to Johann Strauss, Jr.  Portions of the piece would find their way later into his opera Doktor Faustus.  It too is a delightful orchestral essay.  Finally, music by Franz Shreker (1878-1934) provides a window into this lesser known composer’s work.  Ein Tanzenspiel was originally a work for piano composed in 1908.  In 1920, Shreker orchestrated the four movements which are based on ancient dances (a popular trend of the time aligned a bit with Neo-Classicism).  Here he uses the sarabande, menuett, and a gavotte as well as a more song-like madrigal for this interesting work.

Pentatone’s recording truly captures this orchestra in all its sonic glory.  The clarity of detail is set with just the right amount of ambient presence and well equalized throughout.  The recording is reminiscent of another set of Exotic Dances on the Reference label with the Minnesota Orchestra from a few years ago.  This one too manages to provide great contrast in what turns out to be a very well-chosen and interesting program in keeping with the Suisse Romande’s history.  If this is a new chapter, it is one that will be a welcome addition to audiophiles!  Yamada’s interpretation of Richard Strauss is very interesting and one can hope that perhaps we will see him record a bit with the SRO in the future.  At its heart though, this is an excellent disc with wonderfully engaging pieces.

Falling under the category of corporate synergy, a new Sony Classical release is a reduced-price 2-disc set featuring a variety of music from classic films in honor of TCM’s “Twenty Years of Classic Movies”.  Oddly, but not surprising, none of the material here on the aptly titled Play it Again comes from the original soundtracks but consists of a variety of re-recordings, many from Sony’s 1990s catalogue.  However, some news for fans of the Charles Gerhardt classic film music series is the appearance of several tracks from his 1970s RCA recordings.

Disc one is exclusively performed by Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra.  A majority of the disc focuses on the music of Korngold and here is where some of the previously unavailable recordings surface.  First of these is a suite of music from Of Human Bondage (1946).  Gerhardt’s LP release featured just “Nora’s Theme” but here we get a better re-edited version he made shortly before his death.  The suite adds the main title, “Christmas”, “Sally”, a lullaby, and the finale.  Also expanded is music for The Sea Hawk (1940) now a suite some 15 minutes in length.  Gerhardt’s Steiner recordings are also mined for music from Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, and King Kong all appear on disc two.

Otherwise, the second disc features a few more recent recordings, though most are more than 10 years old now themselves.  Esa-Pekka Salonen’s classic Bernard Herrmann release is represented with appropriate classic sequences from Psycho (“The Murder”) and Vertigo (“Scene d’Amour”).  From Maurice Jarre’s 1987 Royal Philharmonic recordings comes music from Dr. Zhivago (“Prelude/Lara’s Theme”) and Lawrence of Arabia (“Overture, Part II”).  Sony’s Morricone album with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra is the source for the “MainTitles” from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.  Elmer Bernstein is represented with his iconic main title (including “Calvera’s Visit”) from a recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Finally, the Boston Pops are heard with John Williams conducing “The Dialogue” from Close Encounters and in a 1962 release with Arthur Fiedler of Rozsa’s “Parade of the Charioteers” from Ben-Hur.  The whole collection is finished off with Mancini’s famous “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s from his 1961 release—the closest to an “original soundtrack” recording in the entire set.

First off, this is a great set to introduce classic film music to, especially some Korngold.  Some film music fans will want to grab this for the extended Gerhardt releases here.  It is just too bad that Sony could not see fit to provide a 2-disc set conceived in the 21^st century where 70-80 minutes is the expected norm and with such a huge catalogue to mine anyway.  Furthermore, there is not much to get excited about in the meager liner notes.  This is somewhat more bizarre given that the release is supposed to be celebrating something.  What is there is cursory at best.  The conceit here is that this is a bargain 2-for-1 deal, but with little work needing to be done the result feels like a cut and paste job through and through.  All of that said, the selections are well-chosen pieces and at least performance and original recording information is provided here.  It is just too bad that these albums are longer and perhaps really explored the back catalogue of classic recordings a bit more.  That said, the Korngold extended suites may be enough sugar to entice fans to pick this release up.