THÉODORE DUBOIS (1837-1924): Piano Concerto No. 2, Overture to Frithof, Dixtuor for Wind Quintet and String Quintet.

Catalogue Number: 07O003
Label: Actes Sud
Reference: ASM 09
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: The latest release of live recordings from this hot new period-instrument group opens with a Schumannesque overture of dark, elementary Romanticism. Since the notes are practically non-existant we can't tell you when it was written but we guess "early". At least we can get dates for the concerto (1897) and the decet (1909), the former a 24-minute work in four movements (big first, short slow movement and very brief scherzo-y third and medium-sized finale) which seems to effect a meeting between the severity and grandeur of Franck and the playfulness and vivacity of Saint-Saëns and the latter a 30-minute work (also in four movements) which is quite utterly relaxed, serene and sunny, as if looking back at a life found quite pleasing. Vanessa Wagner (1874 Érard piano), Les Siècles; François-Xavier Roth.