Roussel: Le Festin de l'Araignée, Op. 17 (complete ballet) (Le Spider's Feast, The Spider's Banquet)

“The performance is relaxed yet has a cumulative effect: one has a feeling of real calamity before the magician hurriedly returns at the end to put right the mischief his apprentice has wrought.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Eschenbach's understanding of Roussell is manifestly profound and his way with the music quietly compelling and persuasive. Very highly recommended.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2008

“[Eschenbach] subjects [the Third Symphony] to radical scrutiny, though his take on the piece won't be to all tastes. This is a dark interpretation of a work usually considered optimistic and urbane. What we think of as a joyous explosion of rhythm often sounds savage and perplexing. There's turmoil beneath the elegant veneer of the melodic lines. He's right, of course, to argue that we shouldn't dismiss the Third as lightweight. At the same time, it's all a bit too self-consciously done, and Eschenbach seems altogether happier with the ambiguities of Le Festin de l'Araignée...Eschenbach's understanding of the mixture of surface charm and underlying malaise is marvellously acute, and the playing is often devastating in its brilliance.” The Guardian, 18th April 2008 ****

“The exhilarating (1931) score for Bacchus et Ariane teems with life and is full of rhythmic vitality. What a marvellously inventive and resourceful score it is! Tortelier offers the best version yet and the BBC Philharmonic play with tremendous zest.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“This disc completes [the RSNO's] invaluable five-album survey of Albert Roussel, a contemporary of Debussy and Ravel...Another rehearsal or two might have benefited the strings, but overall these are idiomatic, genial performances of attractive and unfairly neglected early 20th-century repertoire.” The Times, 7th January 2012 ***

“as can be heard from this gorgeous disc [Roussel's] contribution was highly individual. Stéphane Denève's sprightly RSNO matches Roussel's sophisticated inventiveness.” The Observer, 15th January 2012

“Both [works] are given vibrant life by the RSNO and Denève, with plenty of graphic detail deriving from Roussel’s skilful musical depiction of everyday war and peace in the insect world.” The Telegraph, 13th January 2012

“Denève handles [The Spider's Banquet] with great subtlety and refinement, the woodwind detail crisply defined against the veils of strings...In performance, [Padmâvatî] is problematic, but the dance interludes are arguably its best moments, and Denève and his orchestra present them very convincingly.” The Guardian, 12th January 2012 ***

“This is a nicely crafted account from Deneve, with plenty of detail in the characterisation of the various bugs and insects depicted by the score...And it has a considerable bonus in being partnered on this disc by the two rarely heard Suites from Roussel's Indian-inspired opera Padmavati...It is wonderful to hear the Suites in such stylish performances.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2012 ****

“The music [of The Spider's Feast], which is couched in Roussel's own brand of impressionism, is radiantly orchestrated and, through its descriptive powers, holds its own without the visual elements that a staged performance would provide.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012

“Roussel is masterly at creating an entomological world...Certainly this finely judged, beautifully played performance - blessed with clear and immediate sound - is the bee's knees (apologies!), which demonstrates much painstaiking work on the musicians' part to bring expressive meaning and clarity of scoring to such charming, imaginative and skilled music.” International Record Review, February 2012