Dukas: Symphony in C; La Peri; Sorcerer's Apprentice

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Dukas's three mature orchestral compositions are gathered on this attractive disc. The earliest is the little-known symphony, obviously inspired by Franck's three-movement symphony written a decade earlier. Like Franck, Dukas creates a large-scale sonata-form first movement; a lyrical slow movement that incorporates lighter, scherzo-like elements; and a rushing finale that contains a grandiose contrasting melody. La Peri, a late work, is subtitled "Dance Poem." It is glisteningly orchestrated--yet remarkably restrained--clearly delineated, colorful music. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (composed in between the other two) is deservedly popular, a colorful, splendidly lucid tone poem. Slatkin leads brisk, strongly played performances. The recorded sound is more than acceptable, if occasionally over-resonant. --Paul Turok

Tracks:

Fanfare To La Peri
La Peri
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
I. Allegro Non Troppo Vivace, Ma Con Fuoco
II. Andante Espressivo
III. Allegro Spiritoso

Customer Reviews:

Great performances from Ohio.......2006-01-15

I have to agree with the last reviewer, not some of the previous ones. I think these performances are just tremendous and the orchestral playing is superb. However, I find the symphony itself to be something of a bore. It is nice that Telarc decided to record it but I cannot imagine ever listening to it for sheer pleasure. Dukas was simply not talented enough to write a symphonic masterpiece. If you want to listen to a great French symphony that is not played very often, I suggest you try the Symphony in B flat by Chausson. You will probably hate it or love it, but it really has something to say. And you might also like the rarely played 2nd Symphony of Saint-Saens.

All Dukas.......2005-11-30

Here on one disk are three symphonic works by the French composer Paul Dukas: the famous Sorcerer's Apprentice, La Peri complete with opening fanfare, and his Symphony in C. Dukas today is better known as a teacher, theorist, and critic/writer and unfortunately his compositions are overshadowed by his orchestral miniature The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The works on this CD let us glimpse at his style; highly Romantic in intent, highly Classical in form, and highly impressionistic in orchestration and program, we can greatly see Dukas' influence on composers of his time and after.

The tone poem La Peri tells of a young man searching for a flower of immortality and finds a fairy asleep holding one. He takes it, but falls in love with the said fairy. The fairy awakens and gets it back by playing on the young mans emotions; the man loses both immortality and love. The music is lush, with expert composition for strings, woodwinds and horn (of note). Merging romanticism with French Impressionism, Dukas presents us with an imaginative and exciting orchestral tone poem. The famous fanfare features the Cincinnati brass section, along with astounding sonics, comes off very well. The Cincinnati brass is extremely tight and one of the most cohesive sounds I have heard in a long time.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice, composed as a joke, here is given a very clean performance. While adding nothing to the recording oeuvre, a delightful piece.

I am not quite sure why the Symphony in C by Dukas is so underplayed; I find it to be the most exciting French symphony of its time. Set in three movements (fast/slow/fast), it is highly romantic, with formal designs reaching back to Classical Era ideals. The melodies are very memorable and the harmonies and orchestrations are constantly confounding me as to where they are leading as well as at their innate beauty and excitement. Of particular note is the outgoing brass melody of the first movement portraying a rugged masculinity, the lyrical, expansively impressionistic, and greatly yearning middle movement, and the boisterous finale which never lags and ends the work with a rousing conclusion.

This recording is sonically amazing. All voices speak with incredible clearness. Jesus-Lopez Cobos leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with a very aggressive approach, showing the orchestras ability to play not only with great virtuosity, but with great sensitivity, which the music demands. The music is lush and engaging. It is nice to have an entire CD devoted to the symphonic music of Dukas, a voice who is rarely heard outside of one work and history books. If you like sweeping Romantic music, this CD is not to be missed.

Good but not much in the way of atmosphere.......2004-06-13

Paul Dukas's Symphony in C major is truly a masterpiece, and I like it the best of all French symphonies. This performance is technically above reproach but interpretively leaves something to be desired. It is played so crisply and immaculately that it robs the music of atmosphere, and that is particularly fatal in the second movement Andante espressivo. For all the techinical precision, this performance ultimately lacks the kind of yearning intensity and romantic tendernes that this music clamors for. Jean Martinon's classic version (EMI) still remains a first choice. Jean Fournet's live recording with Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra is also recommendable.

Disciplined, virtuosic but unengaging performance.......2003-07-23

First, the much-praised sound. It deserves the praise. This is music by what the French would call a "petit maitre" which was almost made for SACD. The Symphony is a fairly early work but shows Dukas the colourist and master-manipulator of the orchestra at his best. The first theme on the violins, the second on horns, then cellos and tromb ones are rhythmic and exciting. The slow movement (with its lovely blending of horns and violas and then of woodwinds and strings en masse) is full of nuance and a quite different range of pastel sounds, and the finale brings all these skills and sounds to bear.

Then the music and performance. Okay, so it's not Beethoven's ninth, or even Saint-Saens 3rd, but it is good and it is well worth hearing a few times. And you really do hear it, - not only is the excellent Cincinatti orchestra clearly enjoying the show, but Lopez-Cobos is able to exercise an overall discipline that makes this more than just a series of great sounds.

Having said that, I found almost nothing here which really grabbed me or which had an emotional impact. Yes, its all brilliant and disciplined, but there seems little real engagement with the charm of the music by either conductor or orchestra.

The DSD recording is excellent in both 16 bit and SACD stereo, - everything is captured openly and without strain, and I cant wait to hear it in multichannel. However, its only the sound i want to hear that way, its not really the performance, virtuosic though it is.

Vewy Fwench........2002-03-20

This is a wonderful collection of the music of Paul Dukas. The disc opens with a spectacularly simple brass fanfare which launches us into the dreamy La Peri ballet. The orchestration and organic development of melody are on par with Debussy. It is exceedingly enjoyable. Then, the Sorcerer's Apprentice comes on. Even though this piece usually appears at children's concerts, it really is a powerfully written and well crafted tone-poem. Telarc captures the orchestral effects stunningly. Allow yourself to re-discover it within the context of Dukas' craftsmanship. The program ends with the Symphony is C. It is full of color, bright rhythms and delightful orchestration. Imagine Debussy without the mist - that's Dukas. This disc will grow on you. Do not hesitate to experience it.

Dukas: Symphony in C; La Peri; Sorcerer's Apprentice

Average customer rating:

Dukas Fanfare...
clearly exciting
Great music, good CD

Dukas: Symphony in C; La Peri; Sorcerer's Apprentice

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Samuel Barber: Symphony No. 1/Piano Concerto/Souvenirs
Dukas: Complete Piano Music
Nielsen: Symphonies no 4-6 / Blomstedt, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Glinka: Orchestral Works
Rossini: Overtures (14)

ASIN: B00000GV4C
Release Date: 1999-01-12

Tracks:

Symphony In C: I. Allegro non troppo vivace, ma con fuoco
Symphony In C: II. Andante espressivo e sostenuto
Symphony In C: III. Allegro spiritoso
Fanfare -La P
La P
The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Amazon.com

Dukas's three mature orchestral compositions are gathered on this attractive disc. The earliest is the little-known symphony, obviously inspired by Franck's three-movement symphony written a decade earlier. Like Franck, Dukas creates a large-scale sonata-form first movement; a lyrical slow movement that incorporates lighter, scherzo-like elements; and a rushing finale that contains a grandiose contrasting melody. La Peri, a late work, is subtitled "Dance Poem." It is glisteningly orchestrated--yet remarkably restrained--clearly delineated, colorful music. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (composed in between the other two) is deservedly popular, a colorful, splendidly lucid tone poem. Slatkin leads brisk, strongly played performances. The recorded sound is more than acceptable, if occasionally over-resonant. --Paul Turok

Customer Reviews:

Dukas Fanfare..........2007-02-19

The purpose for which I purchased this CD was to have another interpretation of the fanfare for my students... I haven't listened to the rest of the CD yet... based on the fanfare, I'm sure it is excellent...

clearly exciting.......2000-12-11

This 1996 performance of three of Dukas' best known works (of the scant 12 surviving) has received high critical praise for Slatkin's conducting of the genuine French Orchestre National. Well, "best known" is a relative term, since most of us have only heard Dukas' jaunty and soaring Sorcerer's Apprentice piece (most likely in Disney's Fantasia movie, under the baton of showman Stokowski). But the other two pieces here are equally quick-paced, tonal, lyrical, brassy, and classical in their sonata-forms. The symphony is admirable, if not exactly tuneful; one of the most outstanding of all French symphonies. The ballet score, La Péri, is preceded by an undistinguished fanfare, but itself is lyrical and often shimmers with high percussion. The ballet between two dancers concerns a fairy who holds a lotus Flower of Immortality desired by a Persian prince, who falls in love instead.

These works sound crisp, spirited, and especially transparent in texture (clearly heard instrumental lines and not many at one time). They are most attractive works, approachable, and featuring the higher registers. In other words, not at all like the contemporary, turn of the last century, pieces from Viennese heavyweights like Mahler and Strauss, which instead forshadow the chaos to come.

Great music, good CD.......2000-02-06

It is a pity that this music is not more often played in concerts (at least here in Spain) and recorded. Dukas had a great talent as an orchestral composer, and personally I think that The sorcerer's apprentice is a fascinating work. La Péri is also a very fine ballet music, which sometimes makes you remember Debussy or Ravel. The Symphony is perhaps a bit too long, but contains some wonderful moments. As far as the performance is concerned, I haven't heard any other, so I cannot compare, but in general I think it's very good. To sum up, I would say that this CD is a very good opportunity to get to know a bit of Dukas' music, which I think it's very worth the effort. Definitely recommended.

Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Symphony in C; La Péri [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

A wonderful Symphony

Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Symphony in C; La Péri [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture etc. / Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops (Multichannel Hybrid SACD)
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ASIN: B00004T0G9
Release Date: 2001-02-28

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful Symphony.......2005-11-09

The only problem with Paul Dukas' work is the startling lack. Essentially all of his surviving pieces are featured on this disc. Aside from the justifiably popular "Sorcerer's Apprentice" piece, there is a symphony and some interesting "dances" (entitled Le Péri) that, while not to my taste, are definitely well-penned.

This recording is much more...alive...than the other, more readily available recording that I've seen online and in music stores. Unfortunately for me, I bought the CD version right before the SACD hybrid disc was released...The worst part is that because it's so hard to come by, I paid nearly as much as I would have for the SACD version!

Any way you can get this recording, though, I recommend it. The second movement of his Symphony in C is worth 10 bucks just by itself. I heard this recording on NPR one night while driving across the country, and I spent 3 months looking for this recording. I had almost given up when I found a used copy on Amazon.

Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice; La Péri; Symphony in C

Average customer rating:

Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice; La Péri; Symphony in C

Manufacturer: Warner Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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Berlioz: Les nuits d'été; Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer; Dukas: La péri
A. Glazunov: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 8

ASIN: B00006I4AX
Release Date: 2006-05-24

Tracks:

L'Apprenti Sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) - Armin Jordan
Fanfare
La Peri
Allegro NOn Troppo Vivace, Ma Con Fuoco
Andante Espressivo E Sostemento
Allegro Spirituoso

Average customer rating:

Great works, great orchestra, great conductor
Great effort - a vindication for unjust neglect
Fournet is phantastique !
Fournet is phantastique!

Dukas L'Apprenti Sorcier

Manufacturer: Denon Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Handel: Complete Violin Sonatas

ASIN: B0000034SS
Release Date: 1993-08-31

Tracks:

Fanfare Pour Preceder La Peri
La Peri, Poeme Danse En Un Tableau
Symphony In C Major: I Allegro Non Troppo Vivace, Ma Con Fuoco
Symphony In C Major: II Andante Espressivo E Sostenuto
III Allegro Spiritoso
L'Apprenti Sorcier, Scherzo D'apres Une Ballade De Goethe

Amazon.com

This disc contains all of Dukas' orchestral music except for the early Polyeucte Overture. One of the most self-critical composers that ever lived, Dukas literally wrote one of everything--one symphonic poem, one symphony, one piano sonata, one variation set, one opera, one overture, and one ballet. Along with a few other small things, that's it. Naturally, everything that he let survive is of very high quality, but ironically only one work-- The Sorcerer's Apprentice--has become popular, and that amazingly so, ever since Mickey Mouse played the part of the apprentice in Fantasia. If you enjoy that piece, you may want to give some of the other works a try, and here's the best way. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Great works, great orchestra, great conductor.......2003-02-08

Jean Fournet and the Netherlands Radio Orchestra are not exactly household names on disc, but undeservedly so. The orchestra I know from other recordings and they play as great with other conductors too. Probably one of the greatest unknown world-class orchestras at all. French-born Fournet did these recordings pretty late in his live (between 77 and 79) and very occasionally you hear it in some overslow bars. But the sound !! Never have you heard La Peri in such opulence - open the window on a warm sunny evening and immerge in those luscious melodies.
Almost the same goes to the Symphony which is treated as a French work in the Franck tradition with beauty and refinement of sound adding to some robust writing instead of fiddling swiftly through like most competitors who make it sound like a Mendelssohn latecomer (and Fournet is actually not slower). Finally this is a turn-of-the-century work! Apprenti is with a slow basic tempo, and sometimes you wish that he lets go now finally, but never has every phrase been so beautifully molded. If you want these works, go for this recordings instead of Lopez-Cobos, Slatkin, Jordan, Martinon. The only slight disappointment is the recorded sound from Netherlands Radio (Denon only licensed it), which is too distantly recorded, making it reverberant and a little glassy, though it is full enough. But nothing one could not live with provided the greatness of the performance. Special gimmick of this CD: every theme and part of every piece is cued with an index point (if your player can do them) and explanation in the booklet, what a fantastic idea!

Great effort - a vindication for unjust neglect.......2001-01-28

I had the fortune of seeing this combination (Fournet/NRO) perform Dukas' symphony and that experience left me longing for a recording - which Fournet obligingly supplied. It didn't disappoint. Due to an over-critical attitude, Dukas destroyed most of his own work, but it has to be said that the few scraps that remained are worth listening to. The symphony, whose construction reminds of Franck, is a grandiose piece, full of life and optimism. La Péri lacks the life of the symphony, but it is an intriguing piece nonetheless, and L'apprenti Sorcier hardly needs any introduction. All in all a very worthwile recording of pieces that have been neglected for far too long - may many follow in Fournet's footsteps.

Fournet is phantastique !.......2000-05-30

Fournet is one of the best conductors of the 20th Century! Most of all for the french composeres! Everyone who loves more lyrical than dramatical interpretations will love that record very much!

Fournet is phantastique!.......2000-05-30

Fournet is one of the best conductors of the 20th Century! Most of all for the french composeres! Everyone who loves more lyrical than dramatical interpretations will love that record very much!

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