Claude Debussy Iberia Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra / Theodore Bloomfield, Conductor
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Claude Debussy Iberia Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra / Theodore Bloomfield, Conductor 1 I. Par les rues et par les chemins 07:08 2 II. Les parfums de la nuit 08:27 3 III. Rondes de printemps 04:27 Maurice Ravel Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra / Theodore Bloomfield, Conductor 4 La Valse 11:54 Maurice Ravel Rhapsodie espagnole Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra / Theodore Bloomfield, Conductor 5 I. Prelude a la Nuit 04:21 6 II. Malaguena 02:01 7 III. Habanera 02:33 8 IV. Feria 06:03 Debussy: Ibéria orchestral pieces. As it turned out, he never falls; nature sleeps and is at rest until bells Ravel: La Valse – a choreographic did orchestrate Gigues; that task he assigned and aubades announce the dawn, and the poem /Rapsodie Espagnole to his pupil André Caplet. world awakens to life.” Theodore Bloomfield conducting The Rochester Philharmonic The first sketches for Ibéria date from Ravel: La Valse Orchestra 1906. At one point during its composition, Debussy wrote his publisher that he had in Maurice Ravel composed his choreo- With these three colorful French orches- mind three different finales for Ibéria, and graphic poem La Valse in 1920 at the sugges- tral masterpieces, a brilliant young American didn’t know whether to toss a coin in order to tion of Sergei Diaghilev, who wished to have conductor – Theodore Bloomfield – and a decide which to use or to sit down and devise an “Apotheosis of the Waltz” to make into great American orchestra – the Rochester a fourth ending. a ballet for his Russian troupe. When Ravel Philharmonic – make their debuts on Everest showed him the music, however, he did not Records. Thanks to the unsurpassed fidelity Ibéria finally had its first performance find it to his liking, and told the composer of Everest sound, it is possible to enjoy exact by the Orchestre des Concerts Colonne in so. As a result, a quarrel ensued, causing the duplicates of the original live performances. Paris on February 20, 1910. The conduc- permanent estrangement of the composer tor on that occasion was the noted French and the impresario. Debussy: Ibéria composer, Gabriel Pierné, who once com- plained to Debussy that the score was too La Valse was first played in an arrangement Ibéria is the second of Claude Debussy’s difficult for either the orchestra or the con- for two pianos by Ravel and the Italian com- three Images pour Orchestre. The first of the ductor. This premiere may be said to have poser-conductor-pianist, Alfredo Casella, in Images – Gigues – was intended as a musical been quite successful, considering the fact Vienna in November, 1920. In its orchestral impression of England; the third – Rondes de that in those days Debussy was looked upon dress, it was first heard on December 12th Printemps – was meant to serve a similar role as an ultra-modern composer. His constitu- of that year, at a concert of the Lamoureux for France. The most popular of the three, ents in the audience were so vociferous in Orchestra in Paris, conducted by Camille Ibéria, as its name implies, evokes impres- their demands for a repetition of the work Chevillard. sions of Spain. The eminent Spanish com- that Pierné was about to signal the orches- poser, Manuel de Falla, a recognized author- tra to play it again. It was then, however, that Ravel originally called this composition ity on the music of his native land, once the anti-Debussy faction made itself heard. Wien (Vienna), and the score bears the indi- declared that in Ibéria Debussy had captured Its hissing protest caused the conductor to cation, Movement of a Viennese Waltz. There the letter and spirit of Spanish music and had change his mind and proceed with the rest are some who find much irony in this music, expressed it more vividly than had many a of the program. as if Ravel were painting a musical picture of Spaniard. Yet in his entire lifetime, Debussy nineteenth century Vienna as seen through spent only a few hours in Spain, when he The three sections of Ibéria, which are the disillusioned eyes of the twentieth cen- went to San Sebastian to watch a bullfight. played with out-out pause, bear these respec- tury. Included in the music is a traceable tive headings: In the Streets and Byways; quotation from the Treasure Waltz from the The three Images required about six years Fragrances of the Night, and The Morning of a younger Johann Strauss’ opera The Gypsy for completion. When Debussy first con- Festival Day. After the first performance, one Baron. ceived them, they were to be for two pianos, French critic gave an appropriate descrip- in order to complement two earlier sets of tion of the work, declaring that the music Casella described La Valse as “a sort Images for solo piano. But he later found that takes the listener right to Spain. “The bells of of triptych: a. The Birth of the Waltz. this medium would be inadequate for his horses and mules are heard,” he wrote, “and (The poem begins with dull rumors, as in purposes, so he decided to develop them into the joyous sounds of wayfarers. The night Rheingold, and from this chaos gradually on March 15, 1908. Its reception was quite Albert Coates, Sir Eugene Goossens, José takes form and development). b. The Waltz. enthusiastic, but most of that enthusiasm Iturbi, Erich Leinsdorf, and now Theodore c. The Apotheosis of the Waltz.” is said to have emanated from the upper Bloomfield. reaches of the auditorium. After the playing On the score is printed the follow- of the second movement – the Malaguena – Appointed musical director of the ing description, written by Ravel himself: one adherent, the noted French composer Rochester Philharmonic in March, 1958, “Whirling clouds give glimpses, through Florent Schmitt, shouted to Ravel from the Theodore Bloomfield is the first American- rifts, of couples waltzing. The clouds scat- balcony, “Play it once again for the people born permanent conductor in the orches- ter, little by little. One sees an immense hall downstairs who have not understood it!” The tra’s history. He had already established an peopled with a twirling crowd. The scene is movement was duly repeated. But when the international reputation as conductor of the gradually illuminated. The light of the chan- applause at the end of the Rapsodie was not Portland (Oregon) Symphony Orchestra deliers bursts forth, fortissimo. An Imperial vociferous enough to suit Schmitt, he yelled, and guest conductor of leading orchestras Court about 1855.” “If it had been something by Wagner you throughout the United States and Europe. would have found it very beautiful!” Bloomfield is noted for the brilliance and Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole excitement of his Interpretations, which now Actually, the Rapsodie Espagnole is a suite come so vividly to life in Everest recordings. There is a close kinship between Debussy’s in four brief movements. The first, entitled Ibéria and Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole. Both Prelude a la Nuit, is a languorous nocturne, Original Liner Notes are works in the Spanish idiom by French the principal motif of which makes a fleet- composers; both were written about the ing reappearance in the second and fourth same time, and both received their initial per- movements. The second section is the afore- formances within two years of one another, mentioned Malaguena, a Spanish dance in by the same orchestra and under similar triple meter, with an improvisatory English circumstances. But whereas Debussy was a horn solo in the middle. The third move- Frenchman through and through who barely ment is none other than that early Habanera set foot in Spain, Ravel was born only a short for two pianos, first written in 1895 and distance from the Spanish border, at Ciboure enlarged and orchestrated for use in the in the Basses-Pyréneés. Besides, his mother Rapsodie. The suite then concludes with the was a Basque. Tracing through the list of his lively Feria (The Fair), in which once again compositions, one finds that among his very we hear a contrasting solo in the middle for first works was a Habanera for two pianos, English horn. while among his very last was the Bolero. In between lie such Spanish-style compositions The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as the Alborada del Graciodo, the Vocalise has been ranked among the major sym- en forme d’Habanera, the opera L’Heure phonic groups in America ever since it was Espagnole, and the Rapsodie Espagnole. founded in 1922. It is unique among the nation’s symphonic organizations in that it The Rapsodie Espagnole was Ravel’s first is supported by the world’s largest commu- large orchestral work. It was written in one nity music group, the Rochester Civic Music month during the summer of 1907, in the Association, which has more than 13,000 seclusion of a friend’s yacht, and was first subscribers. During its history, the orches- performed at a Colonne Concert in Paris tra has had only five permanent conductors: Some notes on the history of Everest Below is a graphic representation of this new “wow and flutter” to an absolute minimum. recordings made anywhere in the world. By Records and the digital remastering material. What you see here, your ears will The film has another advantage in its great utilizing specially designed portable versions quickly verify when you listen to an EVER- tensile strength which effectively eliminates of EVEREST 35 mm equipment, EVEREST When Everest Records was founded by Harry EST recording. pitch changes due to “tape stretch”, a condi- engineers are able to make recordings and Belock in 1958 as a division of Belock Instru- tion heretofore almost impossible to control.