French Opera Overtures
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782-1871)
Le domino noir S.30 (1837) – overture
La muette de Portici S.16 (1828) – overture
Les diamants de la couronne S.34 (1841) – overture
Jean Robert Planquette (1848-1903)
Les cloches de Corneville (1877) – overture
Alexandre Charles Lecocq (1832-1918)
Suite from Mam’zelle Angot – ballet arr. and orch. Gordon Jacob (1943 and 1947)
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi
rec. 2022, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
Chandos CHAN20318 [68]
In recent years, Neeme Järvi is and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra have released several discs focusing on the French orchestral repertoire. French music for ballet (review, review) was followed by French music for the stage (review) and, just a few months ago, by a CD of orchestral works by Lalo (review, review).
The latest disc in what appears to be becoming something of an unofficial series is billed as French opera overtures. That title turns out, however, to be something of a misnomer. For while the CD does, it’s true, include four overtures – three relatively familiar ones by Auber and a somewhat less well known one by Planquette – more than half its total running time is given over to Mam’zelle Angot, a 1940s production for Sadler’s Wells Ballet that utilised rearranged material from Lecocq’s 1872 comic opera La fille de Madame Angot.
Turning first of all to the Auber overtures, it’s fair to say that there has been something of a revival of interest in that repertoire lately, largely thanks to an ongoing series of releases on the Naxos label, initiated by conductor Wolfgang Dörner and extensively continued by Dario Salvi (the latest CD is reviewed here). While those discs have, very usefully, expanded our appreciation of the composer’s output by focusing on long-forgotten works, any releases of their somewhat better known counterparts tend, these days, to be reissues of recordings dating from the 1960s or earlier. New performances from an accomplished conductor in well-engineered, state-of-the-art sound are rare and to be welcomed. Järvi presents three such overtures for us here – Le domino noir, La muette de Portici and Les diamants de la couronne.
If Dario Salvi’s way with Auber is, in general, to eschew theatrical bombast in favour of teasing out and exploring the more lyrical elements, Järvi adopts a more traditional approach. From the very opening of the first overture, Le domino noir, it is clear that these are beefy, big-boned and forcefully propulsive performances that emphasise drama, urgency and tension. Järvi grabs us by the throat and hardly ever lets go. It is all undeniably exciting and gripping. Almost 70 years ago, Albert Wolff and the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra produced classic accounts that, described by my colleague Dan Morgan as “‘Hi-Fi’ in the best sense”, still sound very impressive indeed. In terms of energy and verve, Järvi and his Baltic players are up there with them – and, as you might expect, in even better sound.
The take-no-prisoners approach is also apparent in Planquette’s overture Les cloches de Corneville. This time, however, Järvi’s essentially direct and forthright approach isn’t as effective. The overture’s more relaxed, lilting passages aren’t integrated with the more energetic themes in the subtle manner that, skilfully applied, will refashion the whole piece as rather more than the sum of its individual parts. I invite you to listen to it on a much-admired Decca twofer Overtures and ballet music of the 19th century (466 431-2) where it’s performed by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Richard Bonynge – who, at the grand old age of 94, is even more of an industry veteran than the 87 years old Järvi. Bonynge’s more carefully balanced account brings out all the delicacy and colour inherent in the work and endows it with an unsuspected degree of sophistication.
Bonynge, this time leading the National Philharmonic Orchestra, also offers competition in the Mam’zelle Angot ballet score. His account was most recently reissued as CD 22 of Decca’s superb box set Richard Bonynge complete ballet recordings (485 0781). Before his retirement from the podium, Bonynge was, of course, not only a very experienced conductor for dancers on stage but also, as that 45-disc collection confirms, a specialist in this type of repertoire. As a result, he brings an extra degree of sensibility to the score, carefully deploying light, shade and rhythmic flexibility within the ballet’s individual numbers to winning effect. That can be heard in, for instance, his account of the Overture which benefits enormously from his airier and more nuanced approach. Indeed, the fact that the Mam’zelle Angot score is notably light-on-its-feet and jaunty – following the overture, no less than ten of its 14 numbers are marked either allegro or allegretto – certainly plays to Bonynge’s strengths. That, however, ought not to be taken as dismissing Järvi’s account entirely out of court, for the score can certainly take his slightly heavier, less obviously light-hearted and buoyant approach. That can be appreciated most clearly in the beautiful Act 2 Adagio. While Bonynge, at that point, simply enjoys the moment and wallows in its lushly romantic melodies, Järvi’s markedly slower tempo simultaneously adds a pleasurable frisson of nervous tension as we balletomanes subconsciously worry whether real-life dancers on stage might be in danger of losing their balance at that point and toppling over. As each of the score’s numbers follows another, comparison between Järvi and Bonynge becomes something of a case of swings and roundabouts. If, on balance, I lean slightly towards Bonynge overall, I can certainly understand other listeners taking a different viewpoint.
By the way, there is a selection of music from the ballet, amounting to a little over half the length of the full score, on a Decca Eloquence twofer The world of ballet (480 2391). There, conducting the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, you will find Anatole Fistoulari, another conductor who worked extensively with ballet companies, delivering idiomatic performances that reek of genuine theatricality. Fistoulari is, in this repertoire, up there with Richard Bonynge. In fact, he has a good claim to be considered the finest conductor of ballet on disc in the 20th century, as well as a superbly sympathetic and responsive accompanist in concerto recordings. A fully documented box set of his recordings in remastered sound is surely long overdue.
All in all, then, this latest foray into French orchestral music by Järvi and his Estonian players offers much to admire. This disc will no doubt give a great deal of enjoyment to anyone tempted by the comparatively rarely heard repertoire that it showcases effectively and I look forward with pleasurable anticipation to hearing the next instalment in the series.
Rob Maynard
Previous review: Raymond Walker (August 2024)
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