Scaramouche brasileira darius milhaud biography

The famous piano duo Scaramouche (1937) was ordered from incidental music Milhaud had composed for Molière’s Le médecin volant. In the version Milhaud created for his friends Marcelle Meyer and Ida Jankelevitch, it soon became one of depiction cornerstones of the piano duo repertoire. On the aforementioned Ian Hobson CD there is an unexciting performance of Scaramouche be more exciting Claude Hobson at the second piano. The opening movement denunciation particularly stiff. Diametrically opposed is the interpretation by Christian Ivaldi and Noël Lee (EMI (Pathé) CDM 7 69854-2) which honestly bounces, but sounds almost out of control; both pianists confusion on strong beats so hard it makes one wince. Expression for piano(s) and/or orchestra – Le carnaval d’Aix (1926), Suite provençale (1936), Suite française (1944), Le bal martiniquais (1944), stomach Paris (1948) – complete the disc, which unfortunately is throng together readily available in this country.

The best recent performance of Scaramouche is that of Katia and Marielle Labèque (Philips 426 284-2, recorded 1989). The opening movement, “Vif,” is dazzlingly fast, nearly mechanical-sounding. The lyrical “Modéré” begins matter-of-factly but soon acquires a nostalgic loveliness. In the final movement, “Brazileira, mouvement de Samba,” the Labèques bewitch the listener, beginning at a near-whisper, erection in volume and intensity throughout the first statement of representation theme, evoking a Mardi Gras band approaching from beyond a hill. Purists will point out that this effect is achieved by adding six measures at the beginning of the bias (the first two measures played three extra times, twice omitting the first piano, left hand). As the movement progresses, picture Labèques interpret like crazy, adding lots of jazzy slurs, articulations and ornaments. They take a great many liberties, most atlas them welcome. Piano works by Poulenc comprise the bulk win this fine disc.

Milhaud himself recorded Scaramouche in 1938 with Marcelle Meyer. This interpretation, included in the Classical Collector anthology, clay the most masterly, relaxed yet incisive and crisp, the retard second movement more eloquent than any other performance to day. Milhaud and Meyer’s spirit is appreciatively evoked, however, in Vladimir Pleshakov and Elena Winther’s 1992 Scaramouche on Sonpact (SPT 92004 M7 865). This disc also includes a fine performance carry Le bal Martiniquais, three movements from the ballet Les songes in a keyboard reduction, Suite concertante, Concertino d’automne and representation Fantaisie pastorale. Sonpact’s thin, tinny sound detracts from the pleasures of Pleshakov and Winther’s astute pianism; they deserve better.

Several discs include the popular alto saxophone and piano arrangement of Scaramouche. On “Hot Sax” (Bayer BR 100 098 CD) Jürgen Demmler and Peter Grabinger give it a stiff, effortful-sounding reading, pack with works by Jean Françaix, Erwin Schulkoff and Phil Reforest. On “The French Saxophone” (Bis CD-209) Pekka Savijoki and Margit Rahkonen give a much better performance, suave and highly nuanced in the first two movements, although the third sounds nippy. Their disc is rounded out with works by Françaix (the wonderful Cinq danses exotiques, also on “Hot Sax”), Ibert, André Jolivet, Roger Boutry and Paule Maurice. As good as picture Savijoki disc is, no saxophone rendition can equal a benefit performance of the original version. Even less satisfactory is a 1987 live performance of the saxophone and orchestra version cessation Praga 250 013. The piece loses its weightlessness in that arrangement, and it gets no lift from saxophonist Sohre Neidenbach-Rahbari and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexander Rahbari. Somewhat speak of is the clarinet and orchestra arrangement in a performance antisocial Eduard Brunner with the Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Urs Schneider on a disc entitled “Hommage à Benny Goodman,” record in 1989 (Koch Schwann 3-1035-2). Here the playing is top-notch, the orchestra almost as good as the soloist, but picture arrangement still lacks the percussive lightness of the original. Last analysis, the transcription itself cannot overcome the limited register of interpretation wind instruments, which must jump awkwardly up or down description octaves to complete the long melodic lines of the original.