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Honegger: Rugby / Symphony No. 2 / Mouvement symphonique No. 3 / Monopartita / Pastorale d'été / Pacific 231
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About Honegger: Rugby / Symphony No. 2 / Mouvement
The best word to describe the music of Arthur Honegger would have to be gnarly. His style is restlessly contrapuntal and charged with dissonance, but this isn't a bad thing at all. In fact, his sharply etched instrumental lines and acerbic harmonies add a welcome touch of spice to a somewhat severe idiom, much as a pinch of hot pepper perks up an otherwise bland sauce. They give his fast music the power of a juggernaut, and fill his slower, quieter moments with ear-catching detail. What's needed in performance, and what David Zinman and his Swiss orchestra deliver in abundance, is rhythmic accuracy and clarity. In fact, there hasn't been such a fine Honegger disc since Herbert von Karajan's legendary recordings of the Second and Third Symphonies (currently on DG "Originals"). In the strings-only Second Symphony, the Zurich band hasn't the weight of Karajan's Berliners, but they are just as impassioned and incisive in attack. The other works--including all three Movements symphoniques ("Pacific 231," "Rugby," and No. 3, which has no nickname)--receive what are clearly their finest recorded performances. Pastorale d'été is as charming as ever, and there's a special bonus in the form of the rarely heard Monopartita, whose unfortunate name sounds like a disease but that is actually a vibrant suite of dances gathered in a single movement. Brilliant sonics, too. --David Hurwitz
