Summer in the Park (CD review)

Various selections, conductors, and orchestras. EMI 50999 0 82658 2 1.

Bits and pieces. In this case, the disc contains "summertime" music, culled from EMI's vast back catalogue of stereo material. I'm never sure how to approach these kinds of discs, collections of short works, in this case fifteen selections. It's not really something most serious classical-music fans might sit down and listen to, since everything is incomplete--a movement here, a movement there.  Maybe as background music. Maybe as music for the car. Or maybe, just maybe, as a sampling of what's out there in longer form. Because all of the tracks on the disc come from well-known conductors and orchestras, it may be a good chance to hear something you might want to buy complete. Or, who knows, maybe among all the bits and pieces, there's something you've never heard before, something to explore in greater depth. In any case, the music, brief and fragmented as it may be, is enjoyable.

EMI's jewel box describes the program saying, "Summer is the season of music--from the chirping of birds to the buzzing of flies, the rushing river to the rustling of flowers in the breeze, that infinite stillness that hangs in the air as the sun sets behind the trees. This collection of timeless recordings celebrates the sounds of those hot summer days and cool summer nights."

I won't try to comment on everything; let me just list the items on the disc and then point out the ones I enjoyed most.

Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite - Sunrise (Slatkin, Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra)
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann - Barcarolle (Marriner, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart)
Handel: Water Music - Suite No. 1 - Bourre (Linde, Linde Consort)
Debussy: Petite Suite - En bateau (Pommier, Northern Sinfonia)
Chopin: Waltz No. 6 "Minute" (Fliter, piano)
Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers (Previn, London Symphony Orchestra)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks (Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic)
Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals - The Swan (Chang, cello; Brewer, harp)
Bizet: Jeux d-enfants - No. 1 Marche (Jarvi, Orchestre de Paris)
Elgar: Salut d'amour (Hickox, Northern Sinfonia of England)
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A - Allegro (Meyer, clarinet; Wiener Strechsextett)
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 - Air (Ledger, English Chamber Orchestra)
Delius: Summer Evening (Hickox, Northern Sinfonia of England)
Stravinsky: L'Oiseau de feu - Disappearance of the Palace (Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra)
Part: Spiegel im Spiegel (Little, violin; Roscoe, piano)

I liked the Linde Consort in the Handel number for its full, spirited approach to the music. The Debussy moves along lightly and gently under Pommier. Pianist Ingrid Fliter plays the little Chopin waltz with dazzling but expressive technique. I've always thought Previn's Tchaikovsky ballet music was among the best available, and his Nutcracker excerpt reinforces that opinion, the piece also being among the best recorded in the collection. The Mozart Clarinet Quintet with Sabine Meyer is charming, as is the Bach Air with Ledger and the English Chamber Orchestra. Finally, Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegel fairly floats across the sound stage and makes a fitting conclusion for the tranquil mood of the program.

EMI recorded most of the sound between the 1960's and the present (or 2008), and it lives up to the company's high sonic standards. However, the opening number, Sunrise from Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite with Leonard Slatkin and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, one the oldest recordings on the disc, is rather dull and hollow by comparison to the other selections. The rest of the items display commendable transparency, clean highs, maybe not the deepest but adequate bass, and fine orchestral depth and breadth, with Marriner's Stuttgart Offenbach, Rattle's City of Birmingham Stravinsky, and Previn's LSO Tchaikovsky standing out for their sonic quality.

This 2011 release, Summer in the Park, is the fourth in a series of similarly themed collections from EMI, the first three being Autumn in the Park, Springtime in the Park, and Christmas in the Park.

JJP