Bizet - Suites from L’Arlésienne & Carmen
Les Musiciens du Louvre / Minkowski
Naïve V5130

Release date April 2008

Marc Minkowski has recently joined Naïve for what is expected to be a long-term collaboration. Standards have been set high with the first release (where Minkowski directs Les Musiciens du Louvre), consisting of music from Bizet’s L’Arlésienne and Carmen. The disc has deservedly been chosen as Disc of the Month in the June issue of Gramophone, which observed that “Minkowski has a ball with these suites, relishing their rich sonorities and glorious melodies, while at the same time investing them with a serious-minded sensitivity”. To complete the offering, the disc comes with a beautiful (limited edition) 120-page hardback booklet. The texts within vary, ranging from folklore to a comparison of the multiple versions of L’Arlésienne suites that exist. Interspersed throughout are reproductions of paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bacon and Mitchell. The aim, no doubt, is to demonstrate the artistic inspirations which were available to Bizet. It is also valuable to the listener, creating an environment where music and art together set a very French scene. The playing is touchingly delicate at times; take for example, Entracte 2 from Carmen where the harp and flute initially play alone before the strings gently join them. In sharp contrast to this, the opening movement of Orchestral Suite no. 1 from L’Arlésienne starts with spiky and rhythmic playing from the strings. By comparison, the wind section’s entry is lusciously smooth whilst the tutti moment further on in this movement demonstrates the orchestra’s impressive power. A vast amount of musical variety can be found throughout L’Arlésienne; the incidental music reveals this. The intimate intensity of a chamber ensemble is exemplified in the Melodrames. Just as the listener gets used to one style, another appears (for example, the march-like Farandole). In my mind, this enriches the tableau that has been set out by Bizet.

Reviewed by Ruth Squire