Jongen: Harp Concerto - Milhaud: Drums Concerto, Marimbo Concerto, Le Carnaval d'Aix

Still catching up with last week's harvest of unusual concertos. Jongen's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (op. 129) is part of the Liège Orchestra's jubilee box. It's the only recording featuring Fernand Quinet, the orchestra's first chief conductor (1960-1964). Sadly the work is not particularly memorable and I'm not likely to revisit it. The Milhaud pieces, on the other hand, I found quite interesting. The Concerto for Drums (Batterie) and Small Orchestra (op. 109) is a short, enigmatic piece. Not obviously a concerto given how the percussion often blend into the larger ensemble. The mood is unsettled, unusually so for a composer I've associated with an unflagging sunny disposition. The performance with the OPL under Pascal Rophé is very persuasive. The Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra (op. performed by the Munich Philharmonic led by Celibidache and Peter Sadlo as a soloist) is, perhaps, more typical for Milhaud's rowdy polystylism although the long slow movement (lent) imparts a quite distinctive, reflective atmosphere to the piece. Le Carnaval d'Aix is a fantasia for piano and orchestra (op. 83b) conceived as a whirling succession of colourful vignettes. Really fun to listen to and one wonders why the piece hasn't been much more popular. Again, the recording with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège with Eric Le Sage as a soloist deserves full marks.