Le Detroit [Import]

1. Ouverture

2. Le Detroit

3. Oui Peut Etre

4. Danse

5. Petit Socco

6. Paris 1999

7. New So Long Marianne

8. Toi La Seule

9. Merry Go Round

10. Tanjah Vibes

11. L'internationale Hallucin

12. Travers Soie

13. Eva

14. Aux Lumieres De Six Heure

Tracks:

Suite Bergamasque: Clair de lune
The Sea At Dawn
Dances For Harp & Orchestra - Sacred Dance
Suite Bergamasque: Prelude
La Plus Que Lente
La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl With The Flaxen Hair)
Prelude No. 11 For Composed Arpeggios
Nocturnes for Orchestra - Nuages
Pour le piano - Sarabande
Images: Lent
Images: Souvenir de Louvre
Images: Images - Book 1, Reflections In The Water
Images: Rhapsody For Clarinet & Orchestra
Images: Nocturnes for Orchestra - Sirenes

Customer Reviews:

An absolute joy.......2006-01-26

So many pieces on this album are jewels. "Le fille aux cheveux de lin" and "Nocturnes for Orchestra - Sirenes" are particularly heavenly. "The Sea at Dawn" has an amazing sense of freshness and motion to it and is well placed at the beginning of the CD. A few of the songs on here make excellent background music but lack memorable themes. I wish I could wake up to this CD every morning, truly.

CD review.......2003-04-06

This is a great debussy CD. This CD is my introduction to Debussy, and now debussy is one of my favorite composers. The music in here is relaxing. The performances are excellent also. One complaint, however, is there is a repeat. There are two of the same pieces on the CD. Overall, this is a great CD.

Average customer rating:

Put Your Hands Up for Detroit, Pt. 2
Fedde Le Grand
Manufacturer: Data
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Put Your Hands Up for Detroit, Pt. 1
The Creeps
Yeah Yeah
Exceeder
Destination Calabria Pt.2

ASIN: B000IB0E52
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Tracks:

Radio Edit
Featuring King Gordy & Bizarre
Club Mix
Tv Rock & Dirty South Melbourne Militia Remix
Dj Delicious & Till West Remix
Soul Central Loves Detroit Remix
Edit

Average customer rating:

The most exciting Fantastique ever recorded?
Good Stuff!!
SUPERB!!!!

Symphonie Fantastique

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Suppé: Overtures; Auber: The Bronze Horse [Hybrid SACD]
Paul Paray Conducts Dances of Death
Paul Paray Conducts Chabrier
Enesco: Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-6 [Hybrid SACD]
Paul Paray Conducts French Orchestral Music

ASIN: B000AC5B02
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Tracks:

Reverie And Passions Largo. Allegro Agitato E Appassionato Assai
A Ball Valse. Allegro Non Troppo
Scene In The Country Adagio
March To The Scaffold
Dream Of A Witches' Sabbath. Allegro
Hungarian March
Trojan March
The Corsair, Overture
The Roman Carnival, Overture

Customer Reviews:

The most exciting Fantastique ever recorded?.......2006-04-02

Mercury continues to welcome back its old friends in three channel SACD including this version of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique by Paul Paray during his time with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Recorded in then quarter-century old Detroit Cass Tech High School in 1959, I've always thought of this recording as a parable to that city's greatest decade, when it produced half the cars in the world and had a championship pro football team (see my review of the stereo version for more on this).

The three channel SACD hybrid (sorry, no surround sound on this issue) brings out a lot of details that were swallowed up in the old stereo version. It does a lot for the whole performance, especially the interplay between woodwinds and timpani in the closing section of "Scene In the Country."

Like Toscanini, Paray pushed the throttle hard when conducting and his style here led to one of the most exciting versions of the Fantastic Symphony ever recorded. The excitement in the two closing movements has hardly been equaled in any recording, new or classic.

The four encores on this recording -- Hungarian and Trojan marches and the Corsair and Roman Carnival overtures -- are performed in kindred spirit. The excitement Paray and the Detroiters build in the two overtures is breathtaking. The Detroiters stay with their high octane conductor throughout this Berlioz extravaganza.

I read a critic that complained about a certain high pitched noise in the symphony. Can't say I heard that. Having converted to 5.1 surround sound this year, I was very pleased to see this wonderful performance returned to currency. It's a hybrid you can hear it in traditional stereo too.

But upgrade your system to hear everything that's being offered and you won't look back on stereo. Either way, you're going to want to hear this recording. It's one of the most exciting performances available and now it's even better than ever.

Good Stuff!!.......2005-10-30

This is an excellent Symphonie Fantastique. Unusual, unexpected, and refreshing. This may not be the most overwhelming recording. Yet, it is completely fresh and enjoyable.
Brasses play very well. Woodwinds are great. As for Paray, I really enjoy the unnusual touches of this performance. Compared to many, this is a real bargain.

SUPERB!!!!.......2005-10-11

I happen to own at least 15 recordings of Berlioz' "Symphonie Fantastique" and most are very good to excellent (the Norrington, Gardiner, and Davis versions are especially fine). However, the Paul Paray/Detroit Symphony version on Mercury Living Presence, newly released as a SACD, is simply unsurpassed. The excitement that this ensemble produces is beyond what mere words can describe. The music ignites sparks. Every movement is a joy, played with precision and passion. One truly hears and feels the unbalanced nature of the artist that Berlioz is portraying in his five movement masterpiece, which was way ahead of it's time when written. Even today it sounds modern and fresh. I especially like the second movement portraying a Ball, fourth movement portraying a March to the Scaffold, and the final movement portraying a Witches Sabbath (you'll never hear the E-Flat clarinet entry solo played any better than here.) But then again, the entire symphony is wonderful. With the Hungarian March, Trojan March, Corsair and Roman Carnival overtures included on the SACD, this is a superb value. If I could only own one recording of the Symphonie Fantastique, this would be the one.

Chabrier: España, rhapsody; Bourrée fantasque

Average customer rating:

Orchestral Music of Emmanuel Chabrier
Paul Paray/Detroit To The Finish Line.......
Chabrier Idealized!
Bon vivant is heads above
Almost as good as Ansermet's performances

Chabrier: España, rhapsody; Bourrée fantasque

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ibert: Escales; Ravel: Rapsodie, etc
Paul Paray Conducts Dances of Death
Bizet: Carmen Suite; Arlésienne Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Thomas: Mignon & Raymond Overtures
Enesco: Roumanian Rhapsody no 2
Suppe: Overtures: Light Cavalry, etc.; Auber: Overtures

ASIN: B0000057LE
Release Date: 1991-11-08

Tracks:

Espana
Suite Pastorale: 1: Idylle
Suite Pastorale: 2: Danse villageoise
Suite Pastorale: 3: Sois bois
Suite Pastorale: 4: Scherzo - valse
Le Roi malgre lui: Fete Polonaise
Overture to Gwendoline
Le Roi malgre lui: Danse Slave
Joyeuse Marche
BourrFantasque
Suite In F, Op. 33: 1: Prelude
Suite In F, Op. 33: 2: Sarabande
Suite In F, Op. 33: 3: Gigue

Customer Reviews:

Orchestral Music of Emmanuel Chabrier.......2006-01-30

I have an lp with some of this music and hoped to replace it with a cd. It's taken many years for the cd to be released but it was worth the wait. Paray produced clean, rhythmically alive performances with his virtuoso orchestra. The sound quality is wonderful considering its age. The music is not profound but it is exceedingly entertaining. Better performances of this music may exist but I'd be surprised.

Paul Paray/Detroit To The Finish Line..............2005-09-29

If Paul Paray was a race horse, I'd place my bet on him each time to win...and indeed I would. This former conductor of the Detroit Symphony has the "Midas Touch", for everything he touches turns to gold. This CD of Chabrier and Roussel is no exception, and belongs in everyone's musical library. No matter how many other recordings of these pieces you own...these renditions are essential. If the only Chabrier work you know is "Espana", you are in for a real treat, as all his music is tunefully delightful. The Roussel "Suite in F" is a nice constrast in musical styles. Consistently, each Paray/Detroit recording is a gala event. The pieces contained on this CD are all very familiar to me, and yet it's as though I'm hearing them through a different set of ears. Conductor Paray brings out orchestral nuances like few other conductors can. Each work is played with energy, finesse, impeccable interpretation, and with extraordinary sound, which is a Mercury Living Presence trademark. Do yourself a favor, anything that Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony have recorded...BUY!!! I have not lost a race yet. Very Highly recommended.

Chabrier Idealized!.......2002-05-12

Keeping it Short.

Paray Throws out an "Espana" that makes the roof shake! "Espana" is by far one of my Favorite pieces of music ever written and to know that Paray and the DSO have given it their Personal and Intense Treatment is as Martha Stewart would say, "A Good Thing!" the Flavour of this "Espana" has NEVER Been more Spanish, too many Conductors see this as a vision of Spain through French Musical Ideals, which essentialy it IS, but still it is a vision of SPAIN, Not France. As much of a Patrioitic Frenchman as Paray was, he never let that stand in the way of making music correctly and keeps the Flamenco and Bolero elements of this work in full frontal beauty! He charges straight ahead into this Masterpiece, the Opening Pizzicatos as Piquant and Alert as anything in music ever! the Tuttis and Crescendos all Vividly and Lushly Over-the-top, Very Spanish, Indeed! But as well, the ELEGANCE of the music, that typically French Feeling, of Elegant Musical Discourse is also never lost, one would not say this is a POLITE recording, Nor Genteel, but it is Exceptionally Suave and Poised! Very French, Indeed! so, this music is pointedly a admixture of both French and Spanish Sensibilities yes, but again, you feel the Heat and Spice of Spain in this recording (and not the Sheen and Reserve of France), Most Definitely. all the other works on the disc are Glorious as well, and the cool thing is, one gets to have the opportunity to have Paray and Jarvi (Neeme) duke it out in their conceptions of the "Fete Polonaise" Paray here on this Disc and Jarvi on the Acclaimed Disc "Encore" i wouldn't say it's a tie, but they both succeed on different levels. Paray may in most minds take the "Ruban en Bleu" But Jarvi by no means is a Slouch in conducting the "Polonaise" but again, i stress, they achieve a high level of satisfaction in the work on two completely different levels. Both equally Masterful.

Bon vivant is heads above.......1999-02-13

If you're a true devotee of Chabrier, you've of course, known about this collection since about 1961. It's never been bettered. Sure, you keep Ansermet, Dervaux, Wolff and a few others knocking about your vinyl and CD shelves. But when weeding-out time comes around, this one stays.

The bon vivant that was Paul Paray understood that to keep good dinner conversation going you have to move things along, keep up your end of the chatter, and keep it light and elegant. That's all Chabrier ever wanted and his music is easily understood and loved.

Unfortunately, especially in the case of Ansermet, too many try to make Chabrier more than he wants to be. Ansermet's tempi are down, while Paray's are up-up-up...and lo, and behold, if you look at the score, the old man proves true to the composer's markings...the only recorded maestro who does.

What's there not to understand? Paray's is THE Chabrier disc...and the Roussel, thrown in at no extra charge, proves a perfect digestive for an elegant and jovial dinner.

Almost as good as Ansermet's performances.......1998-11-17

An exceedingly well recorded and beautifully performed set of charming works, this disc rivals Ernest Ansermet's superb recordings on London. The sound here is better, but Ansermet is idiomatic and very, very French and full of savoir faire. Either is a good addition to one's collection, but Ansermet's is less costly, too.

Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre; Phaéton; "Organ" Symphony; etc.

Average customer rating:

Great recordings

Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre; Phaéton; "Organ" Symphony; etc.

Manufacturer: Umvd Labels
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

$6.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 "Classical"; Lieutenant Kijé; The Love for Three Oranges
Dvorák: Symphony No.9
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Elgar: Cello Concerto; "Enigma" Variations
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Night on Bald Mountain

ASIN: B00016XMX0
Release Date: 2004-01-13

Tracks:

Danse Macabre, Op. 40
Phaeton, Op. 39
Le Rouet D'Omphale, Op. 31
Introduction Et Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28
Marche Militaire Francaise
Adagio - Allegro Moderato
Poco Adagio
Allegro Moderato - Presto - Allegro Moderato
Maestoso - Piu Allegro - Molto Allegro

Customer Reviews:

Great recordings.......2007-05-15

These are all fantastic recordings of the music of a very underrated composer, Camille Saint-Saens. I was skeptical about buying a disc where the feature artists were the Detroit Symphony Orchestra et al. (not that they are poor orchestras; I have simply grown accustomed to the sounds of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras). I was pleasantly surprised! Of the works on the CD, I greatly prefer listening to the "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso," op. 28. It is performed very well, and is well worth the price of the CD if for only this work. The "Danse Macabre" is also performed very well.

The "Organ Symphony" was still performed pretty well, however I am a fan of the Karajan, BPO, and Pierre Cochereau (Organ) recording released by DG a few years back.

This CD presents a very good and affordable opportunity to become introduced to the music of Saint-Saens.

Average customer rating:

Paul Paray/Detroit To The Finish Line.......
Surefire recipe for Gallic confections:

Paul Paray Conducts Chabrier
Paul Paray , and Detroit Symphony
Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Suppé: Overtures; Auber: The Bronze Horse [Hybrid SACD]
Enesco: Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-6 [Hybrid SACD]
Stravinsky: The Firebird (Complete Ballet); Fireworks [Hybrid SACD]
Symphonie Fantastique
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B0002O390C
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Customer Reviews:

Paul Paray/Detroit To The Finish Line..............2005-09-29

If Paul Paray was a race horse, I'd place my bet on him each time to win...and indeed I would. This former conductor of the Detroit Symphony has the "Midas Touch", for everything he touches turns to gold. This SACD of Chabrier and Roussel is no exception, and belongs in everyone's musical library. No matter how many other recordings of these pieces you own...these renditions are essential. If the only Chabrier work you know is "Espana", you are in for a real treat, as all his music is tunefully delightful. The Roussel "Suite in F" is a nice constrast in musical styles. Consistently, each Paray/Detroit recording is a gala event. The pieces contained on this SACD are all very familiar to me, and yet it's as though I'm hearing them through a different set of ears. Conductor Paray brings out orchestral nuances like few other conductors can. Each work is played with energy, finesse, impeccable interpretation, and with extraordinary sound, which is a Mercury Living Presence trademark. Do yourself a favor, anything that Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony have recorded...BUY!!! I have not lost a race yet. Very Highly recommended.

Surefire recipe for Gallic confections:.......2004-12-30

Take equal measures of (a) the music of a second-tier French composer, (b) the skills of a second-tier orchestra now deep in the American Rust Belt, and (c) the wizardry of the engineering staff of a second-tier American record label. Whip thoroughly into a froth using a thin ivory wand wielded by an expert French chef. Store for four and one-half decades. Carefully remove from storage and serve up on the latest platter, known to aficianados of this musico-culinary art as hybrid SACD.

That, in a nutshell, is what this superb new Mercury Living Presence hybrid SACD is all about. One of the first batch of such releases from Decca/Philips, Paul Paray's recording of the musical bon bons of Chabrier (with a nice filler of music by Roussel) has long been a classic, ever since the works were released on LP (actually, spread over four different LPs) nearly 45 years ago. A little over a decade ago, Mercury had released this same set of works as a conventional CD, remastered by the same person who had been in charge of the original recordings: Wilma Cozart Fine. This identical remastering is present in the "redbook" layer of this new hybrid SACD, but it is the SACD layer that merits special attention (and the 5 stars that I have assigned to the release).

I of course do Chabrier a tongue-in-cheek disservice by referring to him as a second-tier composer. Nonetheless, he had the misfortune of being a contemporary of Bizet, Fauré and Saint-Saëns, a fact that tends to obscure his musical contributions. Moreover, he had only a brief composing career, jammed into the final decade of his life (ending just as Claude Debussy's was beginning). Despite these disadvantages, a good bit of Chabrier's music is a frequent fixture at "pops" concerts, especially two works on this album: "España" and "Joyeuse Marche." Chabrier clearly had a flair for the bubbly in music, and most of his works on this album reflect that flair.

But Chabrier was also - despite his abbreviated career - an accomplished operatic composer (this despite the fact that his operas never did manage to make their way into the central repertoire). Perhaps his masterpiece in this genre is "Gwendoline," if the overture performed here is any indicator. It is a finely-wrought and dramatic work which, with its insistent timpani strokes at the beginning of the work, reminds me somewhat of the youthful Giacomo Puccini's Prelude to Act I of his "Edgar." Perhaps my favorite among Chabrier's works played here.

The album is nicely filled out with Albert Roussel's three-movement "Suite in F," a somewhat more modern work in a neoclassical vein, but still fitting in with the bubbly spirit of the Chabrier works.

My tongue is still further in my cheek with my "second-tier" reference to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Under Paul Paray's leadership, the DSO was in fact an excellent group. (And it has pretty much remained as such, although Paray did have the proper panache and insoucience that these French bon-bons require, probably in greater measure than almost any other conductor in recent memory).

Finally, there was never anything second-tier about the Mercury organization when it came to recording technology. In recent decades, only Telarc - among all of the American labels - seems to have been so successful with recordings of such uniformly high quality. But I think that Mercury easily "led the pack" for analog recording quality before the advent of the CD. One needs no more proof of this fact than simply listening to the SACD layer of this hybrid disc: It is a model of clarity and detail at all dynamic ranges, sounding as if it were produced "the day before yesterday."

Put all these ingredients together, and one does in fact have a "surefire recipe for Gallic confections!"

Bob Zeidler

Average customer rating:

Paul Paray ... classical music's Lord of the Dance!
Truly Satanic.
"Fatal" Classical Music
Paray never was so inspired!
Epernay a la Paray

Paul Paray Conducts Dances of Death

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Rondos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Bizet: Carmen Suite; Arlésienne Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Thomas: Mignon & Raymond Overtures
Paul Paray Conducts French Orchestral Music
Enesco: Roumanian Rhapsody no 2
Chabrier: España, rhapsody; Bourrée fantasque
Antal Dorati Conducts

ASIN: B0000057M8
Release Date: 1994-06-14

Tracks:

Mephisto Waltz
Invitation To Dance, Op. 65
Danse Macabre, Op. 40
'Shalome': Dance Of The Seven Veils
La Tragedie de Salome, Op. 50: I. (a) Prelude - (b) Danse des perles - II. (a) Lent - (b) Les Enchantements sur la mer - (c) Danse des eclairs - (d) Danse de l'effroi

Customer Reviews:

Paul Paray ... classical music's Lord of the Dance!.......2007-03-04

For those who only know Paray's "dance moves" in the light opera overtures he was so famous for playing, you might be surprised that he can do the same in these rather more serious compositions. Too often, conductors think that compositions such as those here need to be done in a lugubrious manner. Not so! And Paray proves it. You won't hear a better Danse Macabre than the one on this recording. And the Mephisto Waltz is performed here as a true dance -- not some sort of mini symphonic poem that you often hear with others. The Florent Schmitt Salome is one of the most successful renditions of the work ever recorded -- it was the first one in stereo, and it's outlasted all the others that have come since until the July 2007 release of Thierry Fischer's highly effective recording on Hyperion.

All in all, a very satisfying musical experience.

Truly Satanic........2006-09-29

If you want music that is truly satanic, then look no further than "Dances Of Death." I like Classical music that has to do with death, and this one is no acception. Songs like "Dance Of The Macabre" are much better than those so-called Classical Opera works that don't have any feeling in them. This Cd truly has emotions that will chill you to the core. Highly recommended along with the three act Opera of The Omen. This is true Classical music. Buy it...if you dare.

"Fatal" Classical Music.......2005-10-18

Paul Paray and his Detroit Symphony Orchestra were top exponents of a variety of classical music in the post-World War II Era. Paray, born in French-Canada, became an American icon in classical music at a time when Bernstein, Karajan, Solti and other brand name conductors far outshone him. In this album, Paray creatively compiles fatalistic music- that is music in which death or tragedy is mixed with the art of dancing. The first track is Lizst's popular Mephisto Waltz, a frenzy of fingering on the piano. Liszt was known for having a penchant for music that was both sensual and even frightening in its primal force. Weber's Invitation to the Dance is a rondo for piano and sounds excellent in symphonic form. Saint Saens Danse Macabre is, inevitably, on this recording and sounds dark and lilting at the same time. Strauss' Salome and Schmitt's Salomes are two different versions of the same story. Herod's wicked daughter falls for the languishing Prophet John the Baptist and after he rejects her advances asks for his head on a platter. Schmidtt's version is the more obscure rendition while Strauss' opera is more popular. Both are excellent danceable but dark musical pieces. This is a great recording and if you are into this kind of music you will definately enjoy it.

Paray never was so inspired!.......2004-07-15

Paul Paray built literally to Detroit Symphony , elevating his average performances in a real triumph . He gave balance , nuance and above all a deep expresiveness in every page he conducted . His predilect taste for the french music , however was not a serious obstacle to win in other battlefields .
This album is the best proof for this statement . The Macabre dance or the Mephisto waltz until the moment has not any other recording that even gets close in fierce intensity, dyonisiac fire and powerful wildness .
Buy this one . Its interpretative values are so many that it's useless to describe with all the adjectives that deserves it.
Bravo for Paul Paray!

Epernay a la Paray.......2001-04-19

This disk is selling a lot of copies since it represents the finest of Epernay vintages at a Korbel price.

Absolutely the only thing I would argue with here is that Paray didn't use a soprano for the wordless descant in the Schmitt...here it's relegated to oboe, which Schmitt allowed, but what a soloist he is! Paray makes a case for Schmitt's counterpoint, of all things, but it makes superb sense: this is a ballet after all and the only way a dancer would hear what she needs from the pit is to hear the beat and the counterpoint. No one else has ever thought of it and it says quite a bit about the standard of Schmitt as a composer. As ever, you end up learning something every time you listen to one of Paray's uniformly inspired performances. Too bad he didn't essay Malipiero's Pantea which is designed idependently but separately for solo dancer!

The balance of the disk is no less exemplary. Everything sounds fresh, the orchestral execution is so astonishingly accomplished that it is no wonder Le Mousnier in his bio of Paray draws telling parallels with Toscanini. Yet Paray's not Toscanini--he's unique among maestri. If you read transcripts from Paray's rehearsals, the mystery only deepens as to what it was that he did to get such inordinately extraordinary results, such as this program demonstrates. He talks a lot, is very literate, tells lots of jokes, conveys his admiration of his musicians constantly.

But lots of great maestri have done that. We'll probably never know...and that's the mystery of great art.

Customer Reviews:

A must have for lovers of French Orchestral music.......2006-04-29

Paul Paray is one of the best interpreters of French orchestral music whose stereo recordings are gathered together in this budget priced box, and offer terrific value to the consumer: great recordings/ performances AND sound, at a low price. First off, this item is highly recommended.

There may be some listeners who have favorite recordings of certain works in this set, such as the Saint Saens ORGAN Symphony, the Ravel TOMBEAU DE COUPERIN (Paray strikes me as rather too fast in the Forlane movement, and other parts), or CARMEN Suites. But it is great to have all this music in one set, and Paray is not inferior to anyone in this music. There are several rare works here, including Paray's own MASS. And there is Bizet's rarely heard LA PATRIE Overture, and Thomas Overtures to RAYMOND and MIGNON; Herold's ZAMPA; and Saint Saens' Bacchanale from SAMSON ET DALILA. The Detroit Symphony of the late 1950s/early 60s plays wonderfully, sounding as good as many more prestigious "big name" orchestras.

Of course other listeners have favorites and may not agree with my perception, but I enjoyed this set alot, and will continue to return to it in the future. That's saying alot for one who's a committed fan of Karl Bohm (1894-1981), Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985), Carl Schuricht (1880-1967) and Bruno Walter (1876-1962). The "French" sound and style Paray drew from the Detroit Symphony is much different from Bohm, Ormandy, Schuricht, or Walter, but is most enjoyable. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Paray's MLP French Gems Are Back!, .......2005-06-07

Those familiar with my reviews on Amazon know my great love for the Mercury Living Presence series. Equally great is my disgust that so many of these brilliant recordings have been deleted in the last few years! Thankfully, some of these legendary performances are resurfacing as SACD hybrids. However, they are unfortunately now being sold at full-price, despite a competing Living Stereo hybrid series on RCA/BMG being available at midline. In spite of the added expense, I hope this MLP reissue trend will continue, and maybe we'll even see a few items receiving their CD debut in this series.

These various performances of French Orchestral Music by the great Paul Paray have always been among my favorite MLP offerings. While three of these recordings continue to be available in their original CD incarnations -- the Ibert/Ravel, the Bizet Suites and Saint-Saens discs -- the remaining two discs of material have been out-of-print for some time. However, with this box set Paray's Lalo/Chausson and French Opera Highlights albums are now deservedly restored to the catalog. Even better is the fact that the four 5CD box sets being reissued have been reasonably priced, however they are not SACD Hybrids. This Paray set, and the ones of Dorati conducting Bartok and Tchaikovsky, and Hanson conducting a variety of American music, including his own compositions, have a total cost cheaper than the original single issue CDs! Once again, Mercury Living Presence lives!

Chausson, Lalo, Barraud / Paray, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Average customer rating:

great but gone
Paul Paray's French masterpieces
Wonderful, but don't throw out your vinyl

Chausson, Lalo, Barraud / Paray, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000041JR
Release Date: 1997-10-14

Tracks:

Le roi d'Ys, Overture
Namouna, Suite No. 1: 1. Prelude
Namouna, Suite No. 1: 2. Serenade
Namouna, Suite No. 1: 3. Theme varie
Namouna, Suite No. 1: 4. Parades de foire
Namouna, Suite No. 1: 5. Fete foraine
Offrande a une ombre
Symphony In B-Flat, Op. 20: 1. Lent; Allegro vivo
Symphony In B-Falt, Op. 20: 2. Tres lent
Symphony In B-Flat, Op. 20: 3. Anime; tres anime

Customer Reviews:

great but gone.......2006-04-27

As a Detroiter I had the opportunity to hear Paray and the DSO on several occasions. Looking back I wish there had been many more! Sad to say this wonderful recording appears to have been deleted, along with other Paray/DSO and Living Presence recordings. There has been recently issued a multi-disc set of Paray conducting music by French composers. I don't know if this is included. In any event anyone interested should grab this performance as soon as possible.

Paul Paray's French masterpieces.......2003-11-25

Admittedly, the only really familiar work in this Mercury Living Presence compilation is Ernest Chausson's dramatic "Symphony in B flat Major." Paul Paray's legendary recording of this powerful work with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is definitely one of the best ever made. Paray had a long life and career; he really understood the French masters and this recording demonstrates that. This writer was fortunate to hear and see Paray guest-conduct the San Francisco Symphony in all-French program and there was no question that he was not only competent but brilliant.

The Mercury Living Presence classical series spanned the years 1951 to 1968; the original vinyl recordings were great achievements in high fidelity and, eventually, stereophonic recording. Indeed, the Mercury recordings became milestones and, eventually, collectors' items. It is wonderful that Phillips has reissued these recordings on CDs. They remain high points in American classical recordings. Paul Paray's numerous recordings for Mercury with the Detroit Symphony are among the finest performances of the French repetoire.

Part of the appeal of this CD is hearing some rarely-performed works. First is the overture to Lalo's opera "Le Roi d'Ys." I don't believe the opera is performed anymore, despite some very fine arias. The overture is even a rarity now and it's a special treat to hear Paray's spirited, driving performance of the music. This is the epitome of French romanticism and one can almost picture the first performance in the elegant Paris Opera House in the middle nineteenth century, before an audience that would have included the aristocratic members of the Jockey Club, who so loved to watch the corps de ballet since many of the female dancers were "favorites" of those gentlemen.

Certainly Lalo's ballet "Namouna" would have been a favorite of the Parisians. It has some infectious, imaginative tunes, some of which are included in the first concert suite here recorded.

A great contrast comes with Henri Barraud's "Offrande a une ombre," a very powerful, deeply emotional work written during World War II, when France had been terribly humbled by the Nazi invaders. There is considerable anguish in this music, but Barraud also seems to offer some hope that better days lie ahead. The recording was originally issued only in mono; this is the first time it has been available in stereo.

This is a very enjoyable compilation by a fine French maestro, leading the outstanding Detroit orchestra, in sensational Mercury recordings.

Wonderful, but don't throw out your vinyl.......1999-03-31

I finally got this--with its first stereo release of the Barraud. Wilma Cozart's refurbished, warm sound is outstanding and the performances have really held up over the years, even seeming better than I'd remembered. Paray's Chausson is nonpareil: only Monteux with his somewhat scruffy San Franciscans have a hold on it at this interpretative level, in nothing like this sound quality.

But if you have all of this on vinyl, especially in first editions like I did my comparison, keep it there. The Paray Chausson loses a lot of its immense orchestral scope, though it gains in highs and loses a lot of of the tubby bass and tape his that was typical of Edsel Ford Auditorium and Mercury. The orchestra sounds like it has about 80 members, though you know the DSO had a lot more at sessions than that.

It also impresses me that Paray actually conducts the Lalo material as if it were a ballet--all fleet and upbeat and elegant. With this one release from '58, Paray put Lalo back in the running as a major French composer, not just for Symphonie Espagnole (you can get Paray and Amoyal doing that on a wonderful disc from Monte Carlo).

It also seems to me that Paray's work in the Chausson and Lalo is easily preferable to that of Ansermet, Martinon, and Wolff due to his impeccable artistic scrutiny of the scores and the noticeably more shipshape level of his ensemble.

Keep your vinyl, but if you don't have this material, just buy this disc and you're set for life.

Put Your Hands Up for Detroit, Pt. 1
Average customer rating:
Put Your Hands Up for Detroit, Pt. 1
Fedde Le Grand
Manufacturer: Data
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Discoteka

ASIN: B000JFY0S4
Release Date: 2006-10-30

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