Favorite Ravel Recordings

[Scarpia]

  Actually haven't heard that one, either.  (Do you not like Dutoit, or just prefer Ansermet?)

After hearing a number of the Dutoit/Decca recordings of Ravel and/or Debussy I decided I didn't like his way with the music.  I don't recall of Daphnis was one of the recordings I actually heard.

And how can I forget this one?

[dirkronk]

First, the orchestral stuff. When I first started listening and collecting, in analog days, two names proved reliable, exciting, quite satisfying in Ravel's pieces: Paray/Detroit (Mercury) and Skrowaczewski/Minnesota (Vox Turnabout). Excellent sonics in both cases, too. Iffy Vox surfaces sent me looking for an alternative complete set, however, and at the time I settled on Martinon (EMI), which I still have in LP form and still like a great deal. I also like Boulez and Cluytens.

When I started replicating repertoire on CD, I opted for Martinon but a friend also gave me some of Dutoit's performances: my take...some really good, some so-so.

Upshot: all these names are worthy, but I rather wish that Paray had given us a more complete catalog of Ravel's works...I think he'd sweep the board, at least IMO.

(Please note that I didn't list single performances, since I'd be giving a l-o-n-g list. I can recall some wonderful individual Ravel pieces done by Reiner, Kondrashin, Monteux and others, but wanted to keep the list manageable.)

Piano and chamber recs later, if I have time.

Cheers,

Dirk

[Brahmsian]

Definitely one of my favorite chamber music discs:

[Mandryka]

My favourite Tombeau de Couperin is from Yvonne Léfèvre.

I had dismissed this pianist because of her lacklustre Beethoven Concerto with Furrtwaengler, and her hard and cold Beethoven. In fact I had dismissed Ravel's piano music as smooth and ostentatious-- about as interesting as Mompou.

But I was wrong.  A handful of performances from Léfèvre, Pogorelich, Gieseking, Valmalete, Richter and Rubinstein make his music sound very intersting indeed.

[Mirror Image]

Favorite Ravel recordings? Oh boy that's so tough for me, because there are so many that I enjoy, but let's see if I can narrow it down:







All of Martinon's Ravel (and Debussy for that matter) on EMI:

[springrite]

My favorite Ravel work is Gaspard de la Nuit. Many excellent recordings, among them:

Nojima (REFERENCE LABEL)
Pogorelich
Michelangeli
Francois
Thibaldet
Argerich

[Luke]

This disc contains some absolutely stunning playing, the Ravel and everything else. Perhaps it's not traditional French Ravel a la Perlemuter etc., but the precision and colour and the ability to create dozens of types of touch at onece (an absolute prerequisite for Ravel) are spellbinding.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

After hearing a number of the Dutoit/Decca recordings of Ravel and/or Debussy I decided I didn't like his way with the music.  I don't recall of Daphnis was one of the recordings I actually heard.

Then you should make it a point to hear Dutoit's Daphnis because it's a stunner. Truly worthy of all the accolades.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

...and at the time I settled on Martinon (EMI), which I still have in LP form and still like a great deal.

I have Martinon's EMI Debussy box and really like it. I'm guessing his Ravel is equally fine.

I also like Boulez and Cluytens.

Cluytens recorded an exquisite Daphnis that might be low(ish) on exposure but high in quality:

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Plenty of substance in Ravel's piano music as well (goes without saying of course as it's the basis for the majority of his orchestral works). Complete set one-stops include Thibaudet (Decca) and Bavouzet (MDG):

[Mirror Image]

Then you should make it a point to hear Dutoit's Daphnis because it's a stunner. Truly worthy of all the accolades.

Absolutely! It's my favorite reading of Daphnis.

[MishaK]

Martha is nice, but this is the absolute desert island performance of the concerto in G:



This one is worth hearing if you're looking for a complete Daphnis:

[Sid]

I'm really into piano trios & Ravel's is no exception. I own this recording & think it's pretty good for the performance & the coupling. I recently saw this work live here in Sydney & it was excellent to hear those rich harmonies for real. The first movement being based on a Basque tune, the second based on the rhythms of Malaysian poetry, the third a passacaglia and the fourth combining elements of what had gone before. The finale reminds me of being on the beach in summer - the sun, the breeze, sound of the waves, the crowds - amazing...



I also like his solo piano works, I think that these are his finest, and some of the greatest ever written for the instrument. I have borrowed from my local library the Argerich & Aimard recordings of Gaspard de la nuit, the former is a very passionate account, the latter is more detailed and has much clarity...

[Mirror Image]

This one is worth hearing if you're looking for a complete Daphnis:

Haitink recorded Daphnis twice in his career: one with the CSO (pictured above) and the other with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Both are quite good but pale in comparison with Dutoit/Montreal, Martinon/Orchestre de Paris, and Boulez/BPO.

[springrite]

Haitink recording Daphnis twice in his career: one with the CSO (pictured above) and the other with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Both are quite good but pale in comparison with Dutoit/Montreal, Martinon/Orchestre de Paris, and Boulez/BPO.

That's the three I kept as well. Good call!

[Sid]

A good friend of mine has this disc and we listened to it a while back. The highlight of the disc for me was Ravel's Sonata for violin and cello. Some quite dissonant and almost aggressive sounds in this work, which made me immediately think of guys like Bartok or Janacek rather than Ravel. It also has other works by Ravel and the amazing Chansons de Bilitis of Debussy. A really special recording, imo...

[Mirror Image]

That's the three I kept as well. Good call!

Thanks, I own 24 versions of the complete Daphnis et Chloe and Boulez, Martinon, and Dutoit are the ones I continue to come back to.

[Air]

Also, anything piano played by Vlado Perlemuter is worth its weight in gold. 

[karlhenning]

A good friend of mine has this disc and we listened to it a while back. The highlight of the disc for me was Ravel's Sonata for violin and cello. Some quite dissonant and almost aggressive sounds in this work, which made me immediately think of guys like Bartok or Janacek rather than Ravel. It also has other works by Ravel and the amazing Chansons de Bilitis of Debussy. A really special recording, imo...

I think I owned a copy of that, back in the day.

[Scarpia]

A good friend of mine has this disc and we listened to it a while back. The highlight of the disc for me was Ravel's Sonata for violin and cello. Some quite dissonant and almost aggressive sounds in this work, which made me immediately think of guys like Bartok or Janacek rather than Ravel. It also has other works by Ravel and the amazing Chansons de Bilitis of Debussy. A really special recording, imo...

Is that the same Catherine Deneuve that was in all the French movies?