Lalo: Suites and Valse de la Cigarette from Namouna; Overture to Le Roi d'Ys; Symphony in G minor in Bloomington, MN

The indefatigable conductor
Neeme Järvi
, whose 85th birthday fell during the recording of this album in 2022, has issued numerous recordings of French late Romantic music and is one of the world's acknowledged specialists in the field. Yet prior to this album, which made classical best-seller lists in early 2024, he had apparently never recorded music by
Édouard Lalo
. This may be because
Lalo
is the classic one-hit wonder, represented mostly by his
Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra, Op. 21
, and not much else. Working with his highly congenial
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
,
Järvi
offers a thoroughly entertaining hour and a quarter of music that makes the case for more frequent
programming. The opening work, the
Overture to Le roi d'Ys
, comes from an occasionally heard
opera; the overture by itself was issued by
's publishers as a kind of single, and it is a wonderful orchestral showpiece. The next work, the "Valse de la cigarette" from the ballet
Namouna
, originally surfaced in a similar way, and there is no reason it could not become a favorite on light orchestral programs or pops concerts. The two suites from
itself perhaps offer a glimpse into why
has been neglected; the music is stylistically eclectic, with a bit of
Wagner
here, a bit of
Mendelssohn
there, but it is unfailingly well executed and tuneful, and it makes one want to see the ballet scenes to which it was attached. The spacious acoustic of the Estonia Concert Hall is one attraction here; the detailed
Hugh Macdonald
annotations are another for album buyers. The main attraction, as ever, is
's unfailing instinct for finding the right tone in French music, and this release is as entertaining as anything else he has ever done. ~ James Manheim