Sir Georg Solti Chamber Orchestra Budapest, Kerry Stratton (conductor)
Toccata Classics TOCC0162
A valuable release that presents two major scores and two recorded premieres. Francaix's early reputation, now forgotten, was as a composer of ballets - he wrote sixteen - and The Camellias (for Balanchine in New York in 1950) tells Dumas' famous story concisely with panache and grace. The breezily bitonal Symphony for strings is perhaps more immediately approachable, as is the later Ode on Botticelli's Venus with its compelling, throbbing opening. If the playing lacks the last degree of finesse, this is one of the more interesting releases celebrating the composer's centenary.
****
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