Detroit Symphony Orchestra & Leonard Slatkin - Copland: Rodeo / Dance Panels / El salón México / Danzón cubano (2015) [24/192]

While Copland’s hugely successful celebration of the American West, Rodeo, has become an American classic, Dance Panels is barely known despite working beautifully as a concert work. Based on popular Mexican melodies, the glittering, even exotic El Salón Mexico is one of Copland’s most frequently performed works. Of his rhythmically complex Danzón Cubano, inspired by a visit to a dance hall in Cuba, in which there were two orchestras playing at both ends, the composer himself wrote: “I did not attempt to reproduce an authentic Cuban sound but felt free to add my own touches of displaced accents and unexpected silent beats.” GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Leonard Slatkin’s recording of Copland’s Lincoln Portrait (8.559373–74) received “the kind of performance that brought tears to my eyes” (Audiophile Audition).

„My top-choice Rodeo, including the composer’s own. Plus, it’s complete, with four or five minutes of material you’re unlikely to have ever heard before. This particular performance alone got the CD on my Recording of the Year list, but some colleagues and friends are enjoying the rare work Dance Panels just as much or more.“ (Brian Reinhart, MusicWeb International)

“There’s so much to admire here; an immaculately played, sensationally recorded anthology of Copland orchestral music…All immaculate, though lacking the touch of wildness which Bernstein and Tilson Thomas displayed on their recordings. But, at this price, who’s complaining?” (The Art Desk)

“There's vintage Copland here, and Leonard Slatkin is a persuasive advocate; but the full-size string section of the Detroit Symphony occasionally swamps details…this is an enjoyable programme; and Dance Panels is certainly worth discovering.” (BBC Music Magazine)

Tracklist:

Rodeo (1942)
1. I. Buckaroo Holiday 07:55
2. II. Corral Nocturne 03:47
3. III. Ranch House Party 03:19
4. IV. Saturday Night Waltz 05:01
5. V. Hoe Down04:47

Dance Panels: A Ballet in Seven Sections (1959, rev. 1962)
6. I. Introduction: Moderato (Tempo di valzer) - Espressivo un poco rubato 03:47
7. II. Allegretto con tenerezza (Un poco rubato) 04:21
8. III. Scherzando - Moderato 04:02
9. IV. Pas de Trois: Lento 04:10
10. V. Con brio 03:36
11. VI. Con moto 01:33
12. VII. Molto ritmico - Coda - Come prima - Moderato 04:48

13. El salon Mexico 11:55
14. Danzon Cubano 07:12

Personnel:
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor