Search - Manuel de Falla, Claude Debussy, Emmanuel Chabrier :: Manuel De Falla: Liebeszauber; Tänze aus Der Dreispitz

Good "Musik"

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 06/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After criticizing a few of the new titles in DG's "Musik...Sprache der Welt" series in recent reviews, I will now lavish praise on some of the remaining ones. It is simply a treasure to have these recordings by conductor Fritz Lehmann available on CD for the first time. Lehmann's name was not that familiar to me before I picked up a few of his import titles in the "DG Originals" series (Handel's Water Music and Mozart's PCs 10 & 26 -- see my reviews), but I now regard him as a great conductor. Unfortunately, these recordings of Spanish and French orchestral works don't feature him in the best light. The same approach that Lehmann used for the music of Handel and Mozart, giving them clean and unembellished readings, he brings to the romantic works here, but not to the same brilliant effect. By not romanticizing his readings of this naturally romantic music, some of the innate passion found in Falla's "El Amor Brujo" and "El Sombrero de Tres Picos" is repressed or altogether missing in my opinion. The French works, particularly the Debussy "Prelude" are better, but Chabrier's "Espana" and the Saint-Saens pieces were made with the inferior Bamberger Symphony (the Falla and Debussy were recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic) and suffer accordingly. All the recordings are in mono from 1953-54, and as a result the sound is not as lush as comparable golden-age stereo recordings by Ansermet, who I particularly enjoy in this repertoire. If not one of the best in the second round of "Musik...Sprache der Welt" titles, this is certainly another enjoyable release in what is arguably the best historical series for its price on the classical market today."

A welcome remembrance of Lehmann, with a spirited El Amor Br

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/14/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Fritz Lehmann's career on disc has been largely overlooked in the U.S. except by specialty collectors. On the evidence of these unusual spanish and French recordings--unuual, that si, because they come form Berlin after the war--he shows considerable flair. I'd say on brief acquaintance that Lehmann could hold his own with such EMI stalwarts as Efrem Kurtz and Constantin Silvestri. His El Amor Brujo is vigorous and pointed, with singing from Diana Eustrati in a fiery, flamenco style. The Three-Cornered Hat excerpts are a bit tame by comparison but beautifully played.



The Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is delicately done, and it's followed by a lively Chabrier Espana that is in rather boxy sound. The Danse Macabre is the weakest thing here, showing little mood or vitality. In all, nothing here stands out as exceptional, but as a souvenir of Lehmann's studio output, this is a welcome CD.



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