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 ReadingLe boeuf sur le toit
Orchestral 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 ReadingLe Boeuf sur le toit
Milhaud’s great early ballet, Le boeuf sur le toit (1919, scenario by Cocteau), is one of his most protean pieces, with different dissonances and rhythms emerging in each recording. On a Leonard Bernstein recording with the Orchestre National de France (EMI CDC-7 47845 2), the sound is very sleek and glitzy, like a good pops orchestra or Broadway […]
Continue Reading