Henri Dutilleux: Orchestral Works 2

Review by Uncle Dave Lewis Depending on whom you talk to, contemporary French composer Henri Dutilleux is either the only living successor to the great French school exemplified by Debussy and Ravel, or a sterile ultra-modernist whose work is designed as torture for symphony subscribers. Dutilleux' output is not large, and recordings of it are not numerous, but Arte Nova's Henri Dutilleux: Orchestral Works II is at least inexpensive enough to allow the listener to make up his/her own mind. Conductor Hans Graf loves this music and does not turn in the typically obligatory performance that one might encounter in an American concert hall, and his Bordeaux Aquitaine National Orchestra is attentive and dedicated to Dutilleux's music. The main event here is Dutilleux's engaging and cinematic Symphony No. 1, which dates from the early '50s. Anyone who likes Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra should not have any problem with this symphony, which is exciting, propulsive, and rhythmic. The remaining works, Tout un monde lontain... and Timbres, Espace, Mouvement ou "La Nuite Etoilée," are considerably tougher meat. Tout un monde lontain... is in the form of a cello concerto, albeit one in five movements instead of the customary three. It was written in the '70s for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, although thankfully cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras does not attempt to re-create the sound of Rostropovich here; his sound is warm, smooth, and creamy. Timbres, Espace, Mouvement ou "La Nuite Etoilée" are three orchestral pieces inspired by the painting The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. While on paper this may sound appealing, and the Varèse-like atmosphere of "Timbres" holds no real surprises, the grinding clusters played by the cellos and basses at the start of "Espace" decidedly crosses into territory a little too strongly avant-garde for most tastes. Arte Nova's recording is good, but fuzzy at the edges and a little distant. Some years ago one of the fast food chains was advertising a sandwich that "keeps the hot hot and the cold cold." Comparatively, Henri Dutilleux: Orchestral Works II has the "loud loud and the quiet quiet," and if one adjusts the volume to what seems to be a comfortable level for quiet passages, be prepared to jump out of your seat once the loud parts come.