Fortunately [Maurice Emmanuel] was tremendously talented from the start, so he amassed a respectable body of work…The Ouverture pour un conte gai…is Op. 2…It is a remarkable work for its time.
His music is very concise: the First Symphony is only a bit longer than 20 minutes, while the Second is some five minutes shorter. But that doesn’t mean that his works lack substance; in fact, they are strikingly dense when it comes to rhythm, harmony, polyphony, and thematic invention. Something is always going on.
The Suite française is a delightful arrangement of one of Emmanuel’s piano sonatinas…The piece is exquisitely crafted. Interestingly, the two symphonies were previously recorded for Marco Polo, and very
well too. These performances are also quite fine: vividly projected and gratifyingly confident. The Slovenian Philharmonic plays enthusiastically for Emmanuel Villaume, with well-balanced ensemble and some memorable solo contributions from strings and woodwinds. This music is a real discovery, and the engineering does the performances full justice. © 2012 ClassicsToday.com Read complete review
