Search - Franck, Rachmaninoff, Paray :: Symphony in D Minor / Symphony 2

Excitement a la Paray

Mark McCue | Denver, CO USA | 04/14/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Is it ever wonderful to have these beautiful reissues of Paray at his best! The Franck, fleet and elegant, rises to heart-pounding drama and sparkles with the maestro's gem-like phrasing. It just doesn't get better than this; this is the way it goes. Check the score and see for yourself.The Rach 2 takes on a suave elegance to its emotion and emerges as a far more powerful work rather than the sentimental one it so often seems. No repeats here: Paray, also a composer, figures 45 minutes is about right for the ideas involved...and of course, he's on target. He convinces you that the unfashionable cuts are the way it works, and it most certainly does. With artistry on this level, who cares about picayune points? Wilma Cozart's refurbed sound is rich, full, and perfectly showcases the Detroit Symphony's virtuosity as it storms the heights and lets the '57 and '60 Living Presence sound stand on its own considerable merits--the originals were Cozart's own sessions anyway. While there is high drama, you don't notice clamor. Everything is perfectly judged.An historic re-release that will please everyone with its uncommon artistry on the podium and in the booth."

Reconsidering, it's still nonpareil

Mark McCue | Denver | 04/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know what the previous listener is saying (even if it takes a long time to figure it out, and his discourse entails a propensity for opening ALL cuts. I'd like to hear what he has to say about BRUCKNER making cuts in his stuff).Lots of wind descends into blather, and it's true of composition as with writing. Paray knew this, and as an excellent composer himself, knew as Rachmaninoff should have, that there comes a time when overstressing the point means more is less. He did the cuts, as did Wallenstein...and these two maestri have two of the finest recorded performances around. In my view and ear, Rachmaninoff, here at least, is cogent with cuts, academic without. I'd rather listen to Paray and Wallenstein cogent in this neighborhood.Franck never worried about repeats, though he pencils them in, and like Paray, thinks they're completely unnecessary--where's the outrage here? Paray has Franck's symphony pretty much to himself in recorded history--no other maestro has gotten anything the drama, organistic ebb and flow, light, shadow, spirt, and power in it. The poor old thing has been so absurdly poked and prodded (Monteux in Chicago,Furtwangler, Rodzinski, Masur, Barbirolli, Mehta, Ormandy, Karajan (gadzooks!)and a host of other misfits) that we can easily come to think of her as a graceless grandmere en rouge rather than Deneuve en silhouette. I'm thinking there's not one decent reading of this symphony in the world today, and Paray in his classic 1960 or 1953 readings offers us nearly our only refuge.I'm still grateful that Mercury retains this outstanding, historic CD, that people are listening to it, and that it sounds almost as good as my original edition vinyl"

French and Russian DO Mix, Unlike the Salad Dressings!

Terrill L Sanford | Southfield, Michigan United States | 04/21/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What a Piquant Pairing! Franck's Late 19th Century Masterpiece and Rach's 20th Century Colossus that sounds like it belongs to the 19th Century. As ALWAYS, the DSO are, as they say in Ballet, "En Pointe" and most fashionably so! The Franck is, like most Paray recordings, Savage and at times Merciless, the Uniqueness of the music is never in question or out of context. to be honest, i have NEVER liked the slow movement of this symphony, and even though Paray and the DSO play it more than admirably, it still makes me want to skip to the end of the movement just to get to those final closing bars which are sublime, yet the rest should have been re-orchestrated. the outer movements Gallop along with Maestro Paray in full control and with an Unerring sense of Direction. you really feel that to him this music MEANS Something. Truly a remarkable performance. now before i talk about the Rachy 2, i have to say i am one of those purists that Abhor any cuts in pieces of music, even if the condutor sanctioned them himself (or Herself) i think that whatever the inspiration and however long and daunting it may be, the work should remain pure to what the composer ORIGANALLY Wrote, and if this performance were not so Damnably fine, i'd be even more outraged, however, i am only a LITTLE Outraged, but otherwise, there couldn't have ben a pairing on this disc because without the cuts, as in the Sublime and BEST recording of this work (Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, RCA Victrola, YOU MUST OWN This recording of this landmark work!) it would be over an hour long! but not only with the cuts, but Paray's Fleet-Footedness in tempos seriously make you wonder about the validity of his performance, and that's just by first inspection from the movement timings. but you needn't fear, in fact, this is in the top 3 performances of this piece, i don't know whether to place Paray's or Previn's second, for they are both outstanding, but i think Paray's is more Cataclysmic and more convincingly felt, cuts and all. where as Ormandy is all Luxurious Indulgence and Romantic Headiness, Paray is Clean, almost Minimalistic restraint and Power of the highest order. it feels as if Paray is trying to wrestle with the music and beat it into submission, bending this Behemoth of a work to his will and he mightily succeeds! His Adagio (Yes, THAT Adagio, the one we all know and love and the one NOT written by Barber Or Albinoni!) of this Symphony is Stunning, It's Pathos and Sadness is unmasked, but also more naked than Ormandy's Lusher, more cushiony version, (which is the more devestating, heartbreaking approach) but here you'll cry at the music for a different reason, the feeling is interior, more exterior, as if the emotion is coming from the outside, not your heart breaking for your own sake or sadness, but at someone else's sadness and heartbreak, more empathetical than sympathetical! however, it is nonetheless HEARTWRENCHING! i have always loved this symphony for it's drive and almost Straussian Opulence (Richard, Not Johann) and in Paray's hands, the drive is unparralleled! (just listen to only the 2nd movement to prove this!) and as well, the finale always has me weeping like a newborn, and this recording is no different, in fact the drama is possibly more overwhelming than the Ormandy Version, and you feel it more, but that's still a toss-up! so for the Franck, this is the key version to own, for the Rach 2, i'd always, even over the home team, Recommend Ormandy's Philadelphia version HANDS DOWN, but this is an extremely close follow up!"