DESCRIPTION:
Paul Dukas's sumptuous The Sorcerer's Apprentice, an orchestral scherzo after a ballade of the same title by Goethe. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic. My favourite recording of the work.

Believe it or not, this piece is quite new to me. I was familiar with Dukas thanks to his epic Piano Sonata in E-flat minor, and even uploaded a live recording of it by Marc-André Hamelin with score scrolling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7bsYYAdGBk&feature=related). Although that piece remains largely underrated and rarely played, this orchestral one is Dukas's only work to be in the constant reperoire and to have become a genuine audience favourite. But interestingly enough, it had escaped my notice and actually it wasn't until ca. a week ago that a teacher of mine pointed out that "Der Zauberlehrling" is not only the title of a Ligeti Etude, but also of a - much more accessible and famous - orchestral piece!