​JoAnn Falletta - always the consummate musician (and fabulous conductor) - in a very exciting new recording

I look forward to new recordings from JoAnn Falletta and her wonderful Buffalo Philharmonic. If ever there was a musical match made in heaven, it’s this conductor and orchestra.
 
The program itself is very enticing too, though at first I was disappointed to see she recorded only Iberia from Debussy’s Images, rather than the entire thing. With a total disc playing time under 60 minutes, there was plenty of room for all of it. But never mind; I was swept away by her Iberia and all else was soon forgotten.
 
This Debussy is truly some of most atmospheric, dynamic, and musically engaging orchestral music I’ve heard all year, helped by some of Naxos’s very best recorded sound. I was immediately struck by the gorgeous, spacious, atmospheric acoustic, and the dynamic, articulate, energetic and sensitive orchestral playing - all of which drew me in, thoroughly immersing me in the perfumed colors and atmosphere of Debussy’s magnificent score. The orchestra is set back realistically in the hall, yet is afforded superb immediacy, focus and transparency.

In the opening section, Falletta brings the music brilliantly to life, with vivid characterization, boundless energy, musical phrasing and a wealth of inner detail. While Parfums de la nuit (“scents of night”) is evocative and very atmospheric, without wallowing in the impressionistic haze of it. Falletta wisely keeps it moving - and again allows every significant detail to emerge, while encouraging her strings to sing ever so sweetly. And then, get ready for jour de fete (“festival day”), which takes off like a dash, bursting into an extremely flamboyant flamenco. It is very fast, and very exciting, but never hectic or breathless. It’s an exuberant, festive celebration, ending with enormous bravura. (I love those trombones!)
 
I skipped over Alborada, anxious to hear Ibert’s Escales next. And curiously, the sound is suddenly a bit less present and dynamic here. It sounds to be mastered to disc at a lower transfer level, requiring a boost of the volume control. But once adjusted, Rome-Palermo (Sicily) begins exquisitely, with an enchanting, almost intoxicating feeling. Here Falletta does allow herself to luxuriate in it just a bit, which is entirely appropriate for the music. Though when the con sordino, multi-divisi strings rise up from the mists, they are slightly less ravishing than I’ve heard elsewhere - none more so than Eduardo Mata’s sumptuous 1994 recording with the Dallas Symphony for Dorian Records. The Buffalo strings are silky and gossamer, but not quite as lush as I was expecting. 
 
In Tunis-Nefta (Africa), we hear an ethereal, hypnotic atmosphere surrounding a truly mesmerizing, snake-charming oboe - sans vibrato. This works so well played this way, I scribbled in my notes “absolutely genius!”1 And when Ibert finally takes us to Spain in the final movement (thus in keeping with the theme of this album), the rhythmic opening of Valencia is crisply articulate and highly propulsive, though I do miss some sheer muscle in the massed strings, which are marked ff but sound more comfortably f. And later near the end, in the passages building up to the climatic finish, I wish the fff bass drum and tam-tam crashes were as overwhelmingly powerful as they are on Mata’s spectacular Dorian CD. (To be fair, none can match the sheer amplitude and dynamic range of that classic audiophile recording.) But Falletta is very impressive here, bringing a grand pageantry to this entire final section, while encouraging the strings to positively soar to the heavens at full, rapturous power.  
 
I can turn the volume back down to normal for the concluding Ravel, as the orchestra is restored to the level heard earlier in Debussy.2 And it’s interesting that with a more sharply focused immediacy to the sound, the orchestra actually gains in atmosphere and color, along with dynamic presence and inner detail.
 
This Rapsodie espagnole is, simply put, superbly played. Everywhere we hear a responsiveness from this orchestra to their conductor’s every gesture, with nuances which sound at all times totally natural, totally musical and utterly spontaneous. Prelude a la nuit is sumptuous, yes, but kept moving along nicely, revealing every detail in Ravel’s explicit orchestration. While Malaguena is, once again, very fast (marked Vif). And boy does it work at this tempo! Especially when Falletta relaxes beautifully - not too much! - when called for in the score (subito moins anime - “immediately less animated”), with a natural musical ease and expressiveness which is exceptional. Habanera is superbly atmospheric, brimming with color and extraordinary responsiveness from the orchestra, with a natural elasticity and ebb-and-flow of tempo and phrasing.
 
And hold on for the final Feria ("festival"), which is again very fast, fleet, exciting and festive - glistening with sparkle and glittering detail in the orchestration. While Falletta pushes her orchestra to their very limits at this speed, she has the innate sense to hold back just ever so slightly, for a mere split second, right where the music absolutely needs it - at the height of a climax to let it fully expand, or in a harmonic resolution to let it fully settle - before pushing ahead again. Thus it never sounds rushed or driven, just thoroughly spontaneous and absolutely exhilarating. I’ve criticized many a conductor who plays things fast just to be fast, but it’s not really all that exciting. Well, Falletta knows exactly what she’s doing; this is fast and exciting. She continues to prove over and over what a masterful conductor she is.
 
Going back to Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso that I skipped over was a delight from beginning to end. The opening is delectably atmospheric, creating a real sense of anticipation. (And the bouncing, staccato bassoon is hilariously gracioso!) And then...that first bass drum wallop is a sock to the gut! Just as it should be. (This is exactly what I was missing in the climax of Escales.) The piece continues on as the brilliant showpiece I was hoping it would be, and the orchestral playing is dazzling. Even if at the end, the accented, ff whacks on the low F# timpani aren't as crisp or powerfully impactful as they could be (they sound a bit muffled - way, way back there), the trombones' machismo more than makes up for it. And I almost wish they had played this last on the program to close the concert. It's a knockout.
 
This is yet another fabulous release from the fabulous JoAnn Falletta. I don't think I've ever heard her quite so vivacious and uninhibited before, and the musicmaking throughout is thrilling. The playing of the Buffalo Philharmonic is, as always, excellent, and even with the slight reservations with the Ibert, so too is the Naxos recorded sound. Not to be missed.
 
1 Perhaps other conductors play it this way, I just don’t remember another quite like it.
2 The recording details reveal the Debussy and Ravel were recorded in October 2023 and March 2024, while the Ibert was 7 months later in October '24. For whatever reason, microphone placement must have been slightly different for that later session.