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Editorial Reviews

If the suites from Bizet's "Carmen" and "L'Arlésienne" have become overly familiar and even stale from too many humdrum recordings, then this lively disc may rescue them -- and listeners -- from the Slough of Despond. Myung-Whun Chung's 1991 recordings with the Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille are exceptionally vivid and engaging, and a sense of theatricality pervades these concert suites, making them sound for once like music for the stage. Chung draws a wonderful array of timbres from the orchestra, and inspires his musicians to deliver these works with spontaneity and fresh expression. The "Carmen Suite" benefits the most from Chung's heightened colors and vigorous interpretation, and the brisk pacing and bright sonorities reawaken the operatic impulse, which is often lost in the concert hall. Though the music from "L'Arlésienne" has long been divorced from Daudet's stage play and seems less obviously dramatic than "Carmen," Chung sustains interest by highlighting subtleties in the orchestration and infuses the climaxes with great melodramatic intensity. Not to be overlooked on this CD is the pleasant "Petite Suite from Jeux d'enfants," which is treated playfully and rendered in delicate detail. This 2004 reissue in the Universal Classics line offers fine, all-digital sound and good value at the budget price. Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide

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