A brief stopover in Paris this evening for a portion of a concert, recorded May 20, 1958 with Orchestre National de la ORTF conducted by the legendary Pierre Dervaux. Just one short work from a longer concert which I sadly don’t have – but even this 8 minute snippet satisfies no end.
Fete Polonaise by Emmanuel Chabrier – a composer who was as rough on pianos as he was on orchestras. This is certainly a showpiece – and in Dervaux’s deft hands and the orchestra’s deft skill – makes for an explosive performance. But then, I am particularly fond of French orchestras during this period, especially in French repertoire. Although this piece doesn’t provide for a showing of the famous horn section – which has been called, variously “pungent” and “sensual” – it lends an authenticity lacking in many other orchestras around the world. But that’s me – the pungent, urgent nature of this particular recording sums up a lot of what I love about these bands – the “rolling up your sleeves and getting right down it” nature of these performances has always been spellbinding to me, ever since I first heard the Paris Conservatory Orchestra in some downright audacious recordings during 1920s and the era of 78’s.
Anyway, Pierre Dervaux, whose reputation was primarily that of an Opera conductor (at least on records) also did a lot of Orchestral work throughout the 1950s and 60’s for the French Radio Outlet ORFT (now Radio France) and was very popular among radio audiences in Europe. In the grand scheme of things there are more unofficial recording than official ones and all of them are worth seeking out.
For the time being, click on the link and press Play and dive in for the next 8 minutes with some very high voltage and downright joyous music.
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