Arthur Honegger’s three Mouvements symphonique coupled with Pacific 231 used to fit nicely onto one LP, but like Charles Dutoit’s versions of these four works released on Erato in 1985 that included the First Symphony, David Zinman’s new disc adds additional pieces, in this case the more frequently recorded Second Symphony and the Monopartita, which receives what appears to be its third recording. Zinman’s performances offer the rhythmic drive of Honegger’s Rousselian influences without stinting his own bittersweet lyricism. The orchestra itself, now familiar from Arte Nova’s superb cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies, doesn’t have the air or lightness of the old Suisse Romande Orchestra under Ernest Ansermet, but it does have better chops and better discipline. Decca’s sound and production are by the same team that recorded Arte Nova’s Beethoven–their work here is a little more distant and appropriate to these brightly scored works.
