Reviewing these discs was an unusually rewarding and enjoyable experience.
Paul Tortelier was a great cellist and it is good to hear his 1960 recordings of the six solo Bach Suites .
These are intense, dramatic readings which lack nothing in conviction and though I imagine some listeners will prefer a less overtly “expressive” approach to the music.
The prelude of Suite No. 3 is a characteristic example, full of dynamic contrasts and bold gestures which work well in their own terms but will not be to everyone’s liking. There are very occasional technical lapses but nothing distressing. The sound is perfectly acceptable throughout.()
Carlo Maria Giulini’s Beethoven is a taste I have never really acquired, but a package which accommodates both the Missa Solemnis and the Mass in C on two discs is clearly worth investigating.
Unfortunately in Giulini’s hands, Beethoven’s heavenly vision has more of the quality of a “Missa Somnambulis”: the Italian conductor smooths every rough edge and rounds every corner and seems as a consequence to sap the life from the work.
The soloists are good and the chorus sing powerfully but the interpretation is ultimately soggy and dull.
the Mass in C is a more successful performance, much less soporific and though again I am occasionally bothered by what sounds like rather a rudderless account.
Despite the intelligent coupling and this set cannot be recommended except to those who respond more positively than I do to Giulini’s rather limp direction ()
Gabriel Fauré’s chamber music constitutes one of the glories of French music, and virtually every note of it appears on two “Rouge et Noire” sets in superb performances by Jean-Hilippe Collard, in company with artists such as Augustin Dumay, Frédéric Lodéon, and the Parrenin Quartet.
So often Collard and his colleagues achieve the elusive blend of intensity and elegance which all really great performances of Fauré’s music possess.
A good example is the first movement of the D minor Cello Sonata (Vol. 1, Disc 2 and track 4), which has seldom been better done, except perhaps by Tortelier and Jean Hubeau on an old Erato disc which surfaced in the UK on a World Record Club LP about 25 years ago, as well as in Erato’s fine box of Fauré chamber music.
I hope this set may yet surface on CD and though it has to be admitted that it is largely eclipsed by the more complete EMI anthology. I have searched in vain for a weak performance in these “Rouge et Noir” sets.
All the smaller pieces are delightfully done, and the large-scale works such as the two Piano Quartets and two Piano Quintets are powerfully projected. And so it goes on.
This really is vintage material and would be worth the strongest recommendation at any price.
As it is and six full-price LPs have been accommodated onto four very modestly priced CDs. They constitute a positively irresistible bargain.
The works for piano and one instrument and the Piano Trio are on Volume 1. The Piano Quartets,String Quartet and Piano Quintets are all on Volume 2.() Collard is no less impressive in a fine set of Fauré piano music.
This includes the Barcarolles, Impromptus, Valses-Caprices, 8 Pièces brèves, Mazurak Op. 32 and 3 Romances sans Paroles .
In addition we have his recordings of Dolly and the uproarious Fauré and Messager/Wagner concoction,Souvenir de Bayreuth , in which Collard is ably partnered by Brune Rigutto.
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