[.ca] Daphnis Et Chloe/Ma Mere L Oye

Another Testament to Great Reissues:
In this era of homogenized classical collections, it is great to see a label like Testament rescue gems from the EMI/Columbia vaults and reissue them on CD. And were it not for Testament, the conductor Desire-Emile Inghelbrecht would be a footnote in the history books. They have done a great service to classical collectors by making five CDs of Inghelbrecht's performances available (though only two are currently in print). While Inghelbrecht was at his best with Debussy (he was a close personal friend of the composer's), he also shined with other classics of the French repertoire. Unfortunately, Inghelbrecht's 1953 performance of the complete Daphnis et Chloe never got its due. Released shortly after Ansermet's version (the first ever recording of the complete ballet), it took a backseat to that account, then was replaced, as most mono accounts were, by a definitive stereo recording, in this case Munch's magnificent performance for RCA (see my review). And while it clearly can't go toe-to-toe with Munch, it is nonetheless quite enjoyable, as his 1955 mono account of the Ma Mere L'oye Suite. I am certainly glad I discovered Inghelbrecht for myself, and it is yet another "testament" to a great reissue program that I did.