This would be an excellent introduction to the music of Roussel. The Third is the French composer’s most popular symphony, and the other work is one of his two most celebrated ballets, and here in its complete form rather than just a suite. Eschenbach and his French orchestra have already recorded the other three Roussel symphonies for Ondine, and have earned praise for them.
The Third was written in 1930 on a commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and is structured along classic architectural lines with frequently unconventional harmonies and tunes. There are some rough, stamping sort of rhythms, and in the fast movement some Satie-like cabaret melodies. Leonard Bernstein’s 1961 recording with the NY Philharmonic is a standard in the way it brings out the emotional intensity in the music. But so does Eschenbach and his players, and the sonics are now more transparent and detailed.
A ballet scenario about a spider eating various insects doesn’t sound like a very attractive prospect, but The Spider’s Feast is one ballet I would like to see performed to Roussel’s fascinating score. He used both dancers and mimes in the production, with the main role of the spider taken by one of each. Other characters are the mayfly, butterfly, praying mantises and some maggots – the last played by a group of clowns. Each type of insect has a theme using the special timbres of a particular instrument. The impressionism of the ballet recalls Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. I wonder if Ondine would consider bringing out all four Roussel symphonies conducted by Eschenbach as a set on three SACDs?
– John Sunier