Day 159
Bruneau: Le Belle aus Bois dormant
Orchestra National de Lyon
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider
Bruneau (1857-1934_ is another of those people who turn up in histories of French opera and collections of historic recordings. His operas l'attaque du moulin and Le Rêve did attract a considerable amount of attention in the early 20th century but his day is surely long past. This little symphonic poem is an early work (1886) based on the story of the Sleeping Beauty. The opening was atmospheric and its sound world is not a million miles away from what Debussy was developing around that time. But as the piece continue I found myself less and less engaged. The big peroration at the end is obviously intended to bring the music to a resounding conclusion but I thought that it misfired and seemed rather trivial and cliched. Some reviewers of the CD of French symphonic poems from which this performance is taken took a different view and singled this piece out for special praise. Did I miss something?
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