Leading off this six-disc set called The Art of Charles Dutoit with a recording of Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" Overture is a deceptive opening ploy. Not that it isn't a stupendous performance -- vigorously driven, radiantly colorful, and intensely dramatic, it's as good a "Fingal's Cave" as has been released in the digital era -- but the choice of Germanic repertoire is in itself highly unusual. Because, with all due respect, the art of Charles Dutoit is an intrinsically French art, and while he can conduct works by Bart ...
Read More
Leading off this six-disc set called The Art of Charles Dutoit with a recording of Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" Overture is a deceptive opening ploy. Not that it isn't a stupendous performance -- vigorously driven, radiantly colorful, and intensely dramatic, it's as good a "Fingal's Cave" as has been released in the digital era -- but the choice of Germanic repertoire is in itself highly unusual. Because, with all due respect, the art of Charles Dutoit is an intrinsically French art, and while he can conduct works by Bartók, Respighi, and Gershwin and conduct them brilliantly and compellingly, he is most at home in French repertoire. With the Montréal Symphony in the majority of the music here, Dutoit leads performances that are unquestionably the best since the deaths of Münch and Monteux. The Les Francs-Juges Overture by Berlioz is incredibly exciting the España by Chabrier is extraordinarily evocative, and the Prélude a l'apres-midi d'un faune by Debussy is extremely sensual. And being most at home...
Read Less
![The Art of Charles Dutoit [Bonus DVD] - Armas Maiste (piano); Emilio Iacurto (clarinet); James Earl Barnes (cimbalom); James Thomson (trumpet);...](https://www0.alibris-static.com/the-art-of-charles-dutoit-bonus-dvd/cover/m24084vezjf_l.jpg)
![The Art of Charles Dutoit [6 Cd Box Set]](https://www4.alibris-static.com/cover/m24084vezjf_t.jpg)
![The Art of Charles Dutoit [Bonus DVD]](https://www4.alibris-static.com/the-art-of-charles-dutoit-bonus-dvd/cover/m24084vezjf.jpg)
