Dukas: L'apprenti sorcier - Ravel: Ma mère l'oye - Koechlin: Les bandar-log Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg & Marc Albrecht

• Paul Dukas (1865 - 1935): L'apprenti sorcier:
• 1 Dukas: L'apprenti sorcier: Scherzo after a ballade by Goethe 10:55
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62:
• 2 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: I. Prélude - Très lent 03:17
• 3 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: II. Danse du rouet et scène - Allegro 03:37
• 4 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: III. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant 02:23
• 5 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: IV. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête 04:54
• 6 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: V. Petit Poucet 05:03
• 7 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: VI. Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes 04:57
• 8 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: VII. Le jardin féerique - Lent et grave 03:47
• Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950): Les Bandar-Log, Op.176:
• 9 Koechlin: Les Bandar-Log, Op.176: Scherzo des singes 18:29
• Total Runtime 57:22

Info for Dukas: L'apprenti sorcier - Ravel: Ma mère l'oye - Koechlin: Les bandar-log

Goethe's ballad "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was set to music by Paul Dukas in a symphonic scherzo. "Mother Goose" from the 17th century French fairy tale collection was initially a pianistic miniature by Maurice Ravel, which he transformed with dedication into a colourful, dazzling orchestral work. With Charles Koechlin, the "Bandarlog", the monkeys from the Jungle Book, are allowed to "ape" various styles of contemporary music - a grandiose mixture of humour and poetry.

"From Paul Dukas' indestructible adaptation of Goethe's "Zauber lehrling" to Maurice Ra el's tales of "Mother Goose" and Charles Koechlin's rarely heard "Affen-Scherzo", inspired by an episode from Kipling's "Jungle Book", the compilation offers very different approaches to literary models, each of which is immediately appealing thanks to its imagery and richness of colour. This foray into French music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is also undeniably appealing to listeners who have already outgrown their infancy, as it exemplifies the cardinal virtues of French music-making beyond its programmatic content: Clarity, richness of flavour, eminent sound and a pronounced awareness of form." (FonoForum.de)

"A real rarity completes this recording. Charles Koechlin (1867-1950) studied with Massenet and Fauré, yet even today this enigmatic and neglected composer is still regarded as something of a marginal figure in French music, which makes this recording of one of his most important works especially welcome. From an early age Koechlin was fascinated by the writings of Rudyard Kipling, in particular ‘The Jungle Book’, and throughout his long creative life he devoted much of his compostional skills to producing Kipling inspired works, the most important being a series of four symphonic poems of which ‘Les Bandar-log’ written in 1939 is the last. Its musical depiction of a noisy tribe of monkeys (Les Bandar-log) is used by Koechlin as a means to satirise the fashionable imitators of truly original creative artists. In the words of the composer, “The monkeys consider themselves to be inspired geniuses but are nothing more than self-satisfied mimics whose only goal is to follow the fashion of the day”. Koechlin’s atmospheric impressionistic opening to this scherzo leads to a woodwind theme that is strikingly similar to the beginning of the ‘Spring rounds’ section in Part 1 of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’. Vigorous parodies of neoclassical, polytonal and even atonal musical styles follow, before an almost Ivesian fugue starts in the lower strings and eventually builds up to a series of huge dissonant climaxes after which the opening calm is re-asserted. The considerable technical demands made on the orchestra by Koechlin’s complex writing are fully met in Albrecht’s gripping performance. The recording handles the huge dynamic range of the music with impressive ease and its remarkable clarity immensely assists the listener’s appreciation of this quite challenging score.

This musically rewarding and sonically impressive recording is yet another feather in the cap of the PentaTone label." (Graham Williams)

Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg
Marc Albrecht, conductor

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Marc Albrecht
is one of the most exciting conductors of his generation. He is in demand internationally as a conductor of the German-Austrian late Romantic repertoire from Wagner and Strauss to Zemlinsky, Schreker and Korngold, and also cultivates with conviction the entire spectrum from Mozart to contemporary music.

Albrecht’s work with the orchestra is rooted in a chamber music approach; he loves and knows how to utilise the infinite sound possibilities of the large symphony orchestra, whilst simultaneously always allowing the sound to blend with the intimacy of the chamber orchestra. Even in the densely orchestrated symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler, Albrecht succeeds in an astonishing way in making the structure clear and letting the music breathe. With Marc Albrecht, an analytical approach and emotional music-making go hand in hand.

His artistic work has been honoured numerous times: In October 2021 with the OPUS KLASSIK as "Conductor of the Year" for the recording of Zemlinsky's "The Mermaid" with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (Pentatone), in 2020 the appointment as "Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion" as well as the award of the "Prix d'Amis" of the Dutch National Opera, two of the most prestigious prizes in the Netherlands. In the same year, Marc Albrecht received another OPUS KLASSIK in the category "Best Opera Recording of the 20th/21st Century" for the DVD of Korngold's "The Miracle of Heliane" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, released by NAXOS. He was named "Conductor of the year" by the International Opera Awards in 2019 and the Dutch National Opera's 2017 production of Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" was nominated for a GRAMMY in the category "Best Opera Recording". In addition, in 2016 the Dutch National Opera was named Europe's "Opera House of the Year" during his tenure as chief conductor.

The Berliner Morgenpost wrote of the production in 2018: "But the real miracle of the evening happens in the pit. Marc Albrecht savours Korngold's intoxication of sound for a good three hours, (...). He devotes himself with great pleasure to the details that emerge from the waves of sound, uncovering layers only to let them merge with each other again straight away". "An exhilarating interpretation" is the verdict of the 2020 Tagesspiegel on the recording of Zemlinsky's "The Mermaid", and a 2019 BBC Proms Bachtrack review praises: "Albrecht [...] transported me to an ominous landscape the likes of which I had never experienced before in this music. By carefully highlighting particular solos or sections and adjusting the balance naturally, he not only did justice to the exuberant acoustics of the Royal Albert Hall: he exploited them to the full. [...] Albrecht's conducting tore [the music] from the page."

In the 2022/23 season, selected guest conducting engagements will take Marc Albrecht to the opera houses of Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich; he will be on tour with the Bundesjugendorchester and with the Seoul Philharmonic, Maggio Musical Firenze, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the NDR Radiophilharmonie, among others.

Albrecht was deeply influenced by his mentor Claudio Abbado, as whose assistant he helped to build up and supervise the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra over a period of five years, following his studies in Vienna and his first répétiteur posts at the Vienna and Hamburg State Operas. He was appointed First Kapellmeister at the Saxon State Opera in Dresden and in 1995, at the age of 30, one of Germany's youngest general music directors at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.

In 2006, he took over the direction of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and in 2011 moved to Amsterdam, where opera once again became the focus of his work. In 2016, his contract was extended until 2020. Since summer 2020, Marc Albrecht is working as a freelance conductor with various orchestras and opera houses on all continents.

In Amsterdam, he has conducted Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and "Don Giovanni", Enescu's "Oedipe", Beethoven's "Fidelio", Verdi's "Macbeth", Wagner's "Meistersinger" and "Tannhäuser", "Elektra" by Strauss, "Der Schatzgräber" by Schreker, "The Gambler" by Prokofiev and the world premiere of Manfred Trojahn's "Orest", among others. Other milestones include the first staged version of Schönberg's "Gurre-Lieder", directed by Pierre Audi in September 2014, and Pierre Audi's legendary production of Wagner's "Die Walküre".

As a guest conductor, Albrecht has conducted operas by composers as diverse as Berlioz and Messiaen, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky and Martinů, B. A. Zimmermann and Zemlinsky, Berg, Henze and Wagner at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Brussels, Paris and Barcelona, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, at the Salzburg Festival, and from 2003 to 2006 at the Bayreuth Festival.

Marc Albrecht appreciates the intensive collaboration with directors in opera productions, and particularly successful collaborations include those with Katie Mitchell and Christof Loy, Claus Guth, Herbert Fritsch and Krzysztof Warlikowski.

In addition, Albrecht has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Orchestre National de France, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and the orchestras in Cleveland, Dallas, Stockholm, Oslo, Turin, Rotterdam and Birmingham.

Marc Albrecht has recorded extensively with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (Korngold, Ravel, Dukas, Koechlin, Berg, Schumann, Dvořák, Mahler, Strauss, Brahms/Schönberg) on the Pentatone label, and recordings of opera productions in Amsterdam on the Challenge label. In summer 2020, he presented Alexander Zemlinky's "The Mermaid" on his most recent Pentatone recording, for which he received the OPUS KLASSIK as "Conductor of the Year".

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