Isaac Stern / Gerard Poulet - Edouard Lalo: Symphony Espagnole; Concerto Russe (2013) [SACD]

This disc presents violinist Gérard Poulet & the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra's "rehabilitation" of Edouard Lalo's Concerto Russe, which was written for violinist Pablo de Sarasate in 1880. Sarasate was instead fond of Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole, which is performed here by violinist Isaac Stern accompanied by Eugene Ormandy leading the Philadelphia Orchestra. The work is less of a symphony than an instrumental suite of lyrical scenes for violin & orchestra. This release also includes the overture to Le Roi d'Ys, a now forgotten opera that dwells on the power of both human passion & the sea, performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Full justice may be done to Lalo's work on the occasion of his bi-centenary in 2023. Its eminently French style purity, its sharpness, clarity & beguiling colourfulness ensured a triumph for dedicatee violinist Pablo de Sarasate & acclaim for the Spanish flavour of the Symphony, followed in the 20th century by Stern, Oistrakh & Perlman. Sarasate paid little heed to the Concerto's haunting Russianness whose exquisite splendour was only revealed in 1993 by Gérard Poulet in Prague.


Tracks:

Edouard Lalo (1823 - 1892)
01. Overture - Orchestre De La Suisse Romande (1876) [11:52]

Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland, May 1960 (Le Roi)

SYMPHONY ESPAGNOLE, Op.21 (1875) [33:09]
02. Allegro Non Troppo - Isaac Stern/The Philadelphia Orchestra
03. Scherzando, Allegro Molto - Isaac Stern/The Philadelphia Orchestra
04. Intermezzo, Allegretto Non Troppo - Isaac Stern/The Philadelphia Orchestra
05. Andante - Isaac Stern/The Philadelphia Orchestra
06. Rondo, Allegro - Isaac Stern/The Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia, 10 October 1956 (Symphony Espagnole)

SYMPHONY RUSSE (1879) [32:46]
07. Prélude, Allegro - Gerard Poulet/Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra
08. Lento - Gerard Poulet/Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra
09. Intermezzo, Allegro Non Troppo - Gerard Poulet/Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra
10. Introduction, Vivace - Gerard Poulet/Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra

Prague, 5-6 January 1994 (Symphony Russe)

Personnel:

Suisse Romande Orchestra/Ernest Ansermet (Le Roi)
Isaac Stern (violin), Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy (Op. 21)
Gérard Poulet (violin), Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir Válek (Russe)