Franck: Symphony in D Minor; Chausson: Symphony in B-flat.(Sound recording review)

Franck: Symphony in D Minor; Chausson: Symphony in B-flat. Marek Janowski, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Penta Tone Classics SACD 5186 078.

Until Penta Tone released this disc, my reference standards for the Franck Symphony were Monteux's and Beecham's early recordings (RCA Living Stereo and EMI), and Dutoit's later digital effort (Decca). Now, I'm not so sure, even if I still have a slight preference for Monteux.

It's good to hear the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande again, lead by their newest conductor, Marek Janowski. The two works by Franck and Chausson couldn't suit the orchestra better, considering how well their most-famous conductor, Ernst Ansermet, used to love the French repertoire. By comparison to Monteux's interpretation of the Franck piece, Janowski's account is almost as magical, if perhaps a bit more lax. Dutoit, whose performance is also very good, seems more matter of fact, more suavely elegant, but a tad more mundane. Monteux is the more reposed and more insightful of the conductors cited, whilst retaining plenty of excitement. Janowski's music making is dramatic, to be sure, swinging from moody to energetic, but Monteux remains that much more ravishing in the central Allegretto, with its prominent English horn solo, and in the playfulness of the slender scherzo-like theme that follows.

If the Chausson symphony sounds quite ...