Symphony in G minor; Le Roi d’Ys – Overture; Namouna – Suites and Valse de la Cigarette
Estonian National SO/Neeme Järvi
Chandos CHAN20183 77:22 mins
There is more to Lalo than the Symphonie espagnole. Cellists have ensured that the D minor Concerto is not entirely absent from the concert hall but, as this welcome orchestral disc shows, there are rewarding things to be found by peering beyond those works, notably his ballet Namouna.
Written at speed, Debussy and Chabrier deeply admired Namouna, and it is easy to see why from the suites presented here. The luminosity and distinctive range of colour to Lalo’s textures suggest an affinity with Russian composers, whether that’s the glimmering strings of the ‘Prelude’ or the Spanish and Moroccan exoticisms in later numbers.
Conductor Neeme Järvi is a trusted guide through the byways of French repertoire, bringing vigorous joie de vivre to the livelier pieces, such as ‘Fête foraine’, yet sustaining the controlled insouciance of ‘Dolce far niente (La Sieste)’. And the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra plays as if this music is firmly in their blood. An occasional imprecision in the brass, such as at the climax of the ‘Prelude’, does not detract from the overall momentousness of their gestures.
Lalo’s magnum opus, the opera Le Roi d’Ys, is a fine work, the overture being admirably paced here. Lalo was tagged as a Wagnerian by contemporary audiences, ignorantly so in terms of the broad thrust of his music, though the near direct quotation from the opera Tannhäuser in this overture and the broad sweep of the ‘Prelude’ to Namouna are guilty as charged.
It is tempting to suggest the decidedly episodic Symphony in G minor would benefit from a little more of that spirit. Nonetheless, the Namouna music makes the disc worthwhile. If only we could have the full ballet.