CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR (1844-1937): Volume 3 - Symphony No. 1 in F, Op. 16, Violin Concerto (ed. Martin Yates [b.1958]), La Nuit de Walpurgis, Op. 60.

Description: Widor was celebrated in his time as a master orchestrator and he wrote a treatise on the subject but it hasn't been until Dutton's orchestral series that we've been able to actually appreciate those skills. They are everywhere apparent, especially in the three-movement Walpurgis tone-poem from 1887 ("Overture", "Adagio - Apparition of Helen and Faust" and "Bacchanale"). The 1870 symphony is in a taut, four-movement, 26-minute shape with a rather Germanic (Beethovenian) restless minor-key first movement, a lyrical andante, mischievous scherzo and a finale ending in triumph. The single-movement, multi-sectioned concerto (1877) is of similar length, using recurring material like Franck, and adds a worthy virtuosic work to the French concerto repertoire. Sergey Levitin (violin), Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Martin Yates.