Chaminade Callirhoe: Ballet Symphonique

[musiclover]

I wonder what other members' thoughts are on Chaminade's large scale one act ballet. Although in the form of Ballet there are certain rules about vignettes and variations, with a couple of exceptions I was surprised at how through composed this work feels. Chaminade had an ear for a good melody, as we know from her huge amount of piano pieces, and Callirhoe is full of lovely tunes, but it is certainly much more than a bunch of little salon pieces. The opening melody is haunting and sets the mood beautifully for the musical development to come. There are long sections of what must be "plot" music and Chaminade was totally able to ring the maximum amount from these sections. The little scherzo after the introduction is scored with total mastery as is much of the ballet. The final Valse nods in the direction of Tchaikovsky but still remains its French heritage. There is so much to enjoy in this piece and I found that I stopped noticing that it was a ballet score until it reaches the second part, it feels that symphonic. I wonder if Dutton could be persuaded to look at the choral symphony? For me this was well worth hearing, I wonder what others feel. I also thought that this performance of the Konzertstuck was fabulously opulent, with the pianist Victor Sangiorgio being completely in tune with the style and the lightness required. He didn't try to make more out the piece than it can take like others have done. A great addition to the Chaminade picture.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Unfortunately, there is no extant full score or set of parts for the choral symphony "Les Amazones". The only probable chance we might have of hearing it is if Martin Yates could be persuaded to reorchestrate it from the vocal score.

[Jimfin]

I bought Callirhoe recently and have been extremely impressed by it, more than I expected. I thought of Chaminade as little more than a writer of songs and piano pieces, but her orchestration and melody are magnificent. I particularly love the final waltz, think I want that at my wedding, should I ever have one!

[TerraEpon]

Ok, finally got the CD (Dutton CDs seem oddly hard to get ahold of in the states sometimes....and MDT doesn't sell them for some reason....so I ended up ordering directly from the label)

Love it. Love it a lot. Only complaint? No real info on just what "researched and edited" means....I'm guessing it's probably a matter of old parts cobbled together or something, but given the lack of info I *assume* there's no real reconstruction involved here, and that it's all pure Chaminade.

[Double-A]

A little bit off topic but her piano trios are both very fine music as well.

[semloh]

It's like the name "Chaminade" - delicate, charming and very French.