Roussel: Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 53

“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

“It is Janowski’s exquisite nuancing of melody (timing as well as shaping) that catches the ear as often as the correctly achieved balances, the purity of tone and the general limpidity of the sound.” Gramophone Magazine, June 1996

“The mysterious central Andante, recalling Roussel's early period, is utterly magical in Denève's hands...there is beautiful playing from the RSNO, especially in the opening of the final movement, and some marvellous moments, such as the first climax of the Lento molto.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2010 ***

“an excellent disc, splendidly and idiomatically performed and a superb advertisement for composer, conductor and orchestra. Highly recommended.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2010

“The most recent digital set on Naxos is, on balance, perhaps the best [Roussel cycle], and is certainly well on its way to being the most comprehensive...This final CD is especially valuable for including many rarities: a delightful Flemish Rhapsody with an especially imposing beginning and three three-movement works.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“…these are very impressive performances… The languorous slow movement of the first symphony, 'Soir d'été', is sublime, while Eschenbach finds the latent menace underpinning the opening 'Forêt d'hiver'. These are spacious performances allowing the music plenty of space to breath...His magnificent account of the 1st Symphony is unsurpassed.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 *****

“For a work composed originally as independent items, Roussel's impressionist First Symphony (1904-06) works surprisingly well. True, its structure is unorthodox, each of the four movements – which form a seasonal cycle from winter to autumn – larger than its predecessor, but it all flows together remarkably well, adding up to rather more than a picturesque set of tonepoems or suite. Small wonder it so impressed early audiences.
Roussel refined his symphonic style considerably over time, so comparing the First with the Fourth of three decades later shows just how far he had travelled. The Fourth is an abstract masterpiece, typically mixing up compositional rigour, lyrical intensity and rhythmic élan. If the Fourth does not quite match the Apollonian drive of No 3, this is because it is a very different type of work to its celebrated forebear.
As with his recording of No 2, Eschenbach's accounts are highly evocative and beautifully phrased. Tempi are again broad, working well in Le poème de la forêt where he relishes the poetry of this quietly sumptuous score. In the Fourth, however, after finely shaped readings of the first two movements, the third and fourth are dispatched with a lightness bordering on the throwaway. What makes this newcomer recommendable is the superb playing and Ondine's first-rate sound.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010