This is live music-making at its finest. The programme opens with Daphnis et Chloe, and Pretre, who has this music in his very being, moulds the opening ‘Lever du jour’ with a sensuous flow that immediately catches the listener up in its rapture, the Stuttgart strings gloriously expansive. There is some lovely woodwind playing, too, in the central ‘Pantomime’, and the violins’ gentle sigh is winningly delicate. The principal flute then plays his famous solo with the utmost brilliance, creating an enchanted euphoria to lead on to a thrillingly zestful ‘Danse generale’. La valse rises out of the mists and Pretre’s string phrasing is again very seductive indeed. The ongoing tempo flexes very considerably with the music’s bursts of passion and the final climax is positively riotous, yet thrillingly controlled.
Bizet’s delightful Symphony again shows the excellence of the orchestral playing, particularly the strings. The tempo of the opening movement (exposition-repeat included) is just right, with a nice rhythmic bounce, and the Adagio brings a highly individual oboe solo. The unnamed principal has a close, almost vocal vibrato, beautifully modulated, and he plays exquisitely. After a vigorous Scherzo, Pretre sets an even brisker tempo for the moto perpetuo finale, and the strings articulate with tremendous bustling precision, yet the second theme is able to relax and lilt seductively. Recapitulation and coda effervesce exhilaratingly. The Liederhalle Stuttgart has a most attractive acoustic and the recording, although digital, has an almost analogue allure. This disc is recommendable on all counts