“Four suites, four palettes, four storytelling styles, two sun-drenched tragedies, and one composer; its purposeful and uncompromising simplicity conceals a poem in every measure ', says conductor Marc Minkowski about these' suites' after Carmen and L'Arlésienne. The L'Arliésienne suites (whether or not so-called) are Bizet's First Suite, the Second Suite, composed posthumously by Ernest Guiraud,
… and an additional selection from the original incidental music. All told, the program offers a sun-drenched evocation of Spanish temperament and Provençal sunshine. Take the wonderful melody of the second Entracte from Carmen, or the folk overture of L'Arlésienne. Not to speak of the drawn-out Adagietto, which seems to have been at the cradle of Mahler's Adagietto. 'This is now a clear first choice on virtually all counts for those wanting a disc combining music from Carmen and L'Arlésienne', according to The Gramophone, who selected this edition as CD of the month. (HJ)more
