Vincent d'Indy - Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Rumon Gamba)

Information

Composer: Vincent d'Indy

• Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 57
• Tableaux de voyage, Op. 36
• Karadec, suite from incidental music, Op. 34

Iceland Symphony Orchestra

Rumon Gamba, conductor

Date: 2008

Label: Chandos

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Review

We’re still waiting for a truly great recording of this powerful symphony, but this one is quite good. Rumon Gamba characterizes the music well, choosing generally lively tempos that generate exciting climaxes. The clever third movement, a series of accelerating variations, is particularly effective, and the long finale never hangs fire. My only reservation is that the Iceland Symphony sounds a bit undernourished in the string department for such a heavy-duty romantic work, but on the plus side this gives the textures a welcome transparency.

The two shorter works are less interesting. Tableaux de voyage, orchestrations drawn from a larger piano suite, sounds thoroughly idiomatic as scored, but these predominantly gentle pieces just aren’t terribly compelling and don’t linger long in the memory. This is even more true of Karadec, a brief suite of incidental music. Still, the performances are accomplished and the sonics very pleasing. I can only applaud Chandos for devoting a series to this important late-romantic composer. If you’re a collector, then start collecting.

— David Hurwitz

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Vincent d'Indy (27 March 1851 – 2 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher, who sought to reform French music through the influence of César Franck and the Bach-Beethoven-Wagner tradition Germanic. Known for meticulous composition and lyrical expression, he produced important operatic and symphonic works, including Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français and Istar. In 1894, he co-founded the Schola Cantorum in Paris, promoting Gregorian chant and early music studies. D'Indy also collected and arranged folk songs and influenced many composers through his teaching and writings.

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Rumon Gamba (born 24 November 1972) is a British conductor. He studied music at Durham University, and then went to the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 1998, he joined the BBC Philharmonic as its Assistant Conductor, and later became Associate Conductor. He left the orchestra in 2002. Gamba was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra from 2002 to 2010, and chief conductor of the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra from 2011 to 2015. In January 2022, Gamba became chief conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. He has made over 50 CDs of for the Chandos Records label.

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