I've had a fascination for the music of Darius Milhaud for many years. For me, his music sparkles with wit and is unpretentious. There is an almost naive quality to many of his pieces that sort of wraps itself around me and reminds me of simpler times when the biggest decision I had to make was which color crayon to use when coloring a steam locomotive.
A Varese Sarabande reissue of two suites that are for the most part, unfortunately, forgotten. The Joys of Life and Globetrotter Suite are conducted by Milhaud leading the pickup Los Angeles Chamber Ensemble. The movements of each encapsulate sharp ideas in a very condensed space, typical of this composer's writing. Totally accessible, this is happy, even festive music, not totally memorable but not overstaying its welcome either. Possibly, the reason for its disappearance is that the music is more entertaining than intellectual and I suppose that has been a reason why Milhaud fares less and less well as the years pass. He churned a lot of music, some pieces brilliant, others workmanlike, much of it solid, entertaining yet hardly provocative. Needless to say, Milhaud is a great antidote to one's ills and stresses because it is fresh and well, alive!
This reissue here dates from 1978 but the original MGM was late 50's.
