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Cover: Albert Roussel – Symphony No. 1 "Le Poème de la forêt" · Symphony No. 4

Albert Roussel

Symphony No. 1 "Le Poème de la forêt"

Symphony No. 4

Orchestre de Paris
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor

ODE 1092-2 · CD · March 2007

Buy / listen

Track listing

8 tracks · 66:43

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Albert Roussel

  1. Symphony No. 1 "Le Poème de la forêt" 41:48
  2. 1 I. Forêt d'hiver 6:17
  3. 2 II. Renouveau 8:30
  4. 3 III. Soir d'été 10:43
  5. 4 IV. Faunes et dryades 16:19
  6. Symphony No. 4 24:55
  7. 5 I. Lento - Allegro con brio 7:10
  8. 6 II. Lento molto 10:32
  9. 7 III. Allegro scherzando 3:09
  10. 8 IV. Allegro molto 4:03

About this recording

This Albert Roussel disc couples his First and Fourth Symphonies. It is the second volume in a cycle of three releases featuring the four symphonies and two ballets by the French composer, performed by the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach.

The Fourth Symphony, written in 1934, is considered the crowning achievement of Roussel's career. The First Symphony was completed in 1906 and consists of four movements tracing the four seasons with their descriptive titles.

The booklet contains liner notes written by Damien Top from the Centre International Albert-Roussel in France, as well as rare photographs.

Features

Booklet with liner notes in English, French, German and Finnish

Press

It's fair to suggest that Eschenbach's Paris orchestra outplays them all (...). He certainly enjoys the clearest, most up-to-date sonics. (...) This is beguilling music. Roussel belongs in every collection.
Phillip Scott, Fanfare Magazine, September/October 2007

Eschenbach's trenchant reading alongside the expert playing of the Orchestre de Paris upholds Roussel's claim as France's finest 20th-century symphonist.
David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com, August 2007, Artistic Quality 9 / Sound Quality 9

Under Christoph Eschenbach's direction, the Orchestre de Paris delivers an enormously beautiful-sounding, excellently conceived plea for this French composer.
Oswald Beaujean, Partituren, Juli/August 2007

(Christoph Eschenbach's) magnificent account of the First Symphony is unsurpassed.
Christopher Dingle, BBC Music Magazine, April 2007, Performance *****

As with his recording of No. 2, Eschenbach's accounts are highly evocative and beautifully phrased. (...) in Le poème de la forêt (...) he finds the poetry of this quietly sumptuous score. (...) What makes this newcomer recommendable is the superb playing and Ondine's first-rate sound.
Guy Rickards, Gramophone, April 2007

Christoph Eschenbach skilfully guides his players through the sylvan glades and urban landscapes of these contrasting works.
Matthew Rye, The Daily Telegraph, March 24, 2007, Classical CD of the Week

The artists

Orchestre de Paris

Founded in 1967, the Orchestre de Paris grew out of the renowned Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, the oldest symphonic ensemble in France, which was established in 1828 by François Habeneck, who was the first exponent of Beethoven's symphonies in France.

Full biography

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