We are pleased to offer an in depth survey and exposition of the music and life of Darius Milhaud. The first installation in our three part series focuses on the current availability of Milhaud’s music on compact disc. The availability of the music of Darius Milhaud on phonograph records remained fairly constant during the analog […]
Continue ReadingMilhaud on CD
Ten Best Recordings of Milhaud’s Music
With dozens of Milhaud discs to choose from, a “10 Best” list will help shorten the casual listener’s shopping list. Elektra/Nonesuch 9 71316-2 piano music played by William Bolcom. ADDA 581292 vocal music directed by Bernard Desgraupes. Hyperion CDA66594 Le boeuf sur le toit and other works directed by Ronald Corp. Chant du Monde LDC […]
Continue ReadingWorks Unavailable in CD Recordings
Les machines agricoles From top to bottom: A. Tedder (hay-spreader) B. Harrow C. Reaper D. Harvester/binder From Larousse de XXe siècle, ed. Paul Augé, Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1928-33. Some of Milhaud’s finest work has lapsed into undeserved obscurity. This is particularly true of Milhaud’s vast and varied opus of vocal writing. Though Milhaud produced more […]
Continue ReadingOrchestral Works – Suite Provençale
Suite provençale remains one of Milhaud’s most popular and oft-recorded pieces. Based partly on themes by the minor Baroque master André Campra, and partly on folk tunes, this is a loving tribute to the part of the world Milhaud knew best. The Charles Munch recording (RCA Gold Seal 60685-2) is not at all bad, with […]
Continue ReadingOrchestral Works – Symphonies
Milhaud delayed writing symphonies for full orchestra until 1940, but composed a total of twelve between then and 1961, and several are now on disc. The charm and serenity of Symphony no. 1‘s first movement, and the elegiac mood of the third, contrast starkly with the rough fast movements and the boisterous “Très vif” contains […]
Continue ReadingOrchestral Works – Concertos
Milhaud’s stature as a master orchestrator is apparent in current concerto recordings. Of these, the greatest gem is the Concerto no. 1 for cello (1934) in a superb performance by Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano (Erato 2292 45489-2). The first movement, “Nonchalant,” opens with a brief prelude much like a […]
Continue ReadingOrchestral Works – Arrangements
We have no recordings of the Chansons de l’opéra du gueux, Milhaud’s 1937 settings for solo voice and instruments of songs from Pepusch and Gay’s Beggar’s Opera, but two new discs bear excellent performances of his version for small orchestra, Carnaval de Londres. Unlike Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera and its resultant orchestral suite, Milhaud’s 26 […]
Continue ReadingService Sacré
Milhaud’s Service sacré for baritone (cantor), narrator, mixed chorus and organ or orchestra is one of the few authentic masterpieces of twentieth century liturgical music. Composed in 1947 for San Francisco’s Temple Emanu-El, it gives evidence of Milhaud’s profound identification with his Jewish heritage, particularly in the wake of the Holocaust, in which many of […]
Continue ReadingVocal Music – Quartets
The vocal quartet was a favorite vehicle for Milhaud, represented on The Classical Collector by three excerpts from Les amours de Ronsard (1934) for vocal quartet and orchestra. These settings of Ronsard poems are dedicated to the memory of Claude Debussy, but the cycle’s shape and mood are closer to Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer. Technical inadequacies […]
Continue ReadingOpera
Serious opera as well as serious fun, the Opéras-minute are exquisitely orchestrated, melodious and unexpectedly moving. The libretti by Henri Hoppenot make short work of classical grandeur. In “L’enlèvement d’Europe”, “L’abandon d’Ariane,” and “La délivrance de Thesée,” men, women and monsters are swept along with astonishing dispatch by the familiar disasters and miracles of Greek […]
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