This is one of those discs whose totality earns it a highest recommendation, even though individual listeners may have alternate preferences for individual works. La Création du monde, for example, receives an excellent, gutsy performance with aptly raucous contributions from solo clarinet, trumpet, and percussion. My personal favorite remains the classic Arthur Weisberg rendition on Nonesuch, whose jazzy excitement remains unmatched; but this newcomer is not just very good artistically, it’s really well recorded, with a tightly focused bass and plenty of tactile immediacy. Both Le Boeuf sur le toit and Suite provençale are brash pieces that basically play themselves, and it’s no insult to Casadesus and his Lille orchestra when I say that they let the music make it’s points naturally, through infectious rhythm and plenty of extravert character.
L’Homme et son désir, based on an incomprehensible scenario by Paul Claudel, is a magical, marvelous piece scored for solo strings, harp, a handful of winds and brass, tons of percussion, and four wordless vocalists. It was one of the pieces that made Milhaud’s reputation in the early decades of the 20th century, but (perhaps due to the odd forces required) it seems to have vanished since. The music contains haunting modal melodies, passages of biting polytonality, sensuous contributions from the soloists, and it all adds up to an unforgettable experience. Casadesus turns in an expert performance, and if the vocal contributions aren’t uniformly on the same high level as the instrumental (tenor Mathias Vidal sounds like he’s gargling), it’s not the kind of work where beauty of tone is a paramount consideration. Atmosphere is what counts, and that you can hear in abundance.
So while this or that performance may not be absolutely perfect, the disc as a whole makes an ideal introduction to some of Milhaud’s best work. It also makes an eloquent case for a revaluation of this prolific and neglected figure, and it would grace any serious record collection. At the Naxos budget price, you really should give this a listen. It’s a delight. [07/18/2005]
