Rather short measure for a CD, but I can't really complain too bitterly that Bernstein includes only four of the 12 Saudades: I don't imagine that one's pleasure at their genially insinuating but rather same-y langour would be trebled by hearing three times as many of them. Nor am I going to make much fuss about the rather dense richness of the tuttis, which is Milhaud's fault, if anyone's. No, what matters here is the light cast on his masterpiece, La creation du monde, and one of his most engaging jeux d'esprit, Le boeuf sur le toit, by the collaboration of an American conductor (one musically acquainted with both halves of his continent) and a French orchestra.
There is plenty of punch and energy to these performances, all the more vital for the crispness of Bernstein's rhythmic articulation in two scores that can both quite easily sound messy. But it was the pungent lyricism of jazz that gave birth to La creation, and the luxe et volupte (even a touch of calme here and there) of the Rio de Janeiro carnival that he nostalgically celebrated in Le boeuf, and Milhaud's affinity to Gershwin in the former ('A Frenchman in New York'?) and to Copland in the latter (O Salao Rio?) have never seemed more obvious; nor has the split personality of the saxophone (a jazz instrument, but a very French one as well). No complaints, then, unless you mind the spotlighting of virtually every solo line in La creation. I can't say that it bothers me too much.'