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Excerpts
Excerpts

Orchestre de Paris / Klaus Mäkelä

Chœur de l’Orchestre de Paris - Sol Gabetta - Willard White - Chostakovitch, Walton
Recorded the May 30, 2023 (Grande salle Pierre Boulez - Philharmonie)

Program

1.
Dmitri Chostakovitch
Suite pour orchestre de variété n° 1
01:23
Excerpt
2.
Dmitri Chostakovitch
Concerto pour violoncelle n° 2
02:36
Excerpt
3.
Manuel de Falla
Suite populaire espagnole : Nana (n°2, version pour violoncelle et marimba)
01:37
Excerpt
4.
William Walton
Belshazzar's Feast
02:17
Excerpt

Accompanying Sol Gabetta in Shostakovich’s poignant Concerto No.2, are two scores reflecting the influence of jazz, including Walton’s impressive Belshazzar’s Feast on a theme drawn from the Book of Daniel.

Shostakovich’s vibrant Suite for Jazz Orchestra No.2, a long-lost commissioned piece that was rediscovered in 1999, reflects the composer’s curiosity and the fascinating attempt to acclimatise jazz to Soviet Russia.

The late Concerto No.2, premiered in 1966 by Rostropovich, is remarkable for its meditative interiority, in stark contrast to the moments of restrained tension and extreme violence.

Walton’s most famous work Belshazzar’s Feast is a cantata on a biblical theme, that of the liberation of the Hebrew people after the sacrilege of the Babylonian king Balthazar. Richly orchestrated and intensely rhythmic, filled with acoustic and theatrical effects, the work is divided into ten sections, some of which reflect the composer’s love of jazz and popular music. 

Distribution

Orchestre de Paris
Klaus Mäkelä, conducting
Sol Gabetta, cello
Sir Willard White, baryton-basse
Chœur de l'Orchestre de Paris
Ingrid Roose, choirmaster
Marc Korovitch, choirmaster
Cambridge University Symphony Chorus
Richard Wilberforce, choirmaster

Composers - Authors

Dmitri Chostakovitch
William Walton