Ravel's Rotunda

[Mirror Image]

Daphnis et Chloecan be certainly one of my favourite pieces of all time as well. I also adore the other works you mentioned.
Wow, 26 recordings!? What is the best one you've ever heard so far? The Boulez version, with BPO, is absolutely a masterpiece: perfect tempo, great harmony, excellent phrasing, beauty and power; I think another amazing performance is the Abbado, wonderful.

Yep, 26 recordings. My favorites, or shall we say my top 5, are as follows:

1. Dutoit
2. Martinon
3. Boulez/DG (he's recorded the complete ballet twice)
4. Monteux
5. Tortelier

[Lisztianwagner]

Yep, 26 recordings. My favorites, or shall we say my top 5, are as follows:

1. Dutoit
2. Martinon
3. Boulez/DG (he's recorded the complete ballet twice)
4. Monteux
5. Tortelier

I listened to many parts of Dutoit's version on youtube, I agree it's very impressive.....so harminc, so haunting! I've never heard the Martinon, but I suppose it must be very good as well, Martinon is an excellent interpreter of French music.
Boulez recorded Daphnis et Chloe with the Berliner Philharmoniker once, what orchestra was the other one?

[Mirror Image]

I listened to many parts of Dutoit's version on youtube, I agree it's very impressive.....so harminc, so haunting! I've never heard the Martinon, but I suppose it must be very good as well, Martinon is an excellent interpreter of French music.
Boulez recorded Daphnis et Chloe with the Berliner Philharmoniker once, what orchestra was the other one?

Martinon's performance is certainly top-drawer. The earlier Boulez recording of Daphnis was with the NY Philharmonic.

[Lisztianwagner]

Martinon's performance is certainly top-drawer. The earlier Boulez recording of Daphnis was with the NY Philharmonic.

Sounds very good.

[DieNacht]

After an initial hearing, I´m slightly disappointed by this. Am going to listen more to Abbey Simon / Ravel Piano Works , though.

Had thought that it would probably replace one of my other sets, Helffer´s, but it is true what a lonely reviewer wrote on amazon: it´s like Simon has the pedal down in most of the pieces, resulting in long series of nice, pearl-like sequences of notes, but a lot of nuances and not at least the darker or more dramatic aspects of the works are often lost.

So far I like Helffer much better, for instance in the lovely "Miroirs", which illustrate the point clearly.

In "Gaspard de la Nuit", Simon has some interesting things to say, such as the long, elegiac central movement, but overall I´m not that impressed with it either.

[Mirror Image]

I strongly recommend this:

[bumtz]

Anybody's familiar with this recording of the piano trio?

[asin]B00005KK27[/asin]

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Anybody's familiar with this recording of the piano trio?

[asin]B00005KK27[/asin]

It's been talked about more than a few times on this board. It's a fine recording. Buy with confidence!

[Mirror Image]

So I've been listening to Ozawa's Ravel series on DG with the BSO and I'm very impressed. These must be quite underrated performances as nobody hardly mentions them. They may end up being some of my favorites. The playing is just outstanding and Ozawa brings out so many textures that so often seem to get lost. In closing, a series I will return to again.

[Lisztianwagner]

About my recent purchase:

[asin]B001PKVFG2[/asin]
Listened to the whole cd two days ago, the recordings included are absolutely brilliant, I enjoyed them very much! L'enfant et les sortilèges is a masterpiece of orchestration, very suggestive, magical and powerful, which completely shows Ravel's great skill of making the most of all the musical possibilities of the instruments. Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker beautifully interpreted the work, their performance is amazing; the singers made an excellent job too, such fine voices.
Ma Mère l'Oye is even better to admire the wonderful sound of the Berliner; the orchestral playing is so expressive, atmospheric in that piece, absolutely delightful. Again, an awesome interpretation.

[Luke]

Have to disagree - alongside three or four others, Ravel is my favourite composer, pretty much; every note he wrote means an enormous amount to me, and of all those notes, the ones making up L'enfant go to form what is IMO probably his greatest work. Its wit, charm, humanity, its classically Ravelian implications of vast depths of feeling beneath the brittle, superly pastiching surfaces, all this unfailingly brings tears to my eyes - and no other piece does that to me, none at all. All of which means nothing in itself, obviously - that's just me. But I think if a person such as me, who has many recordings of this piece, finds that all of them have this devestatng effect on me except Rattle's, then maybe that does indicate something. Rattle seems too safe and too charmless, and lacking in magic and innocence' he leaves me unmoved and indeed slightly put-off in this piece, which he ought to have been made for. But yes, just IMO of course.

[Brian]

this unfailingly brings tears to my eyes - and no other piece does that to me, none at all.

I'm not so sure about that.

I have the Naxos L'enfant; is there one reading especially that you'd save from a burning building, so to speak?

[Luke]

Ah, but the other one, the one you're thinking of....well, it helps if I'm hearing it live

Whereas with the Ravel, it's almost enough just to think about it.

As for the burning building scenario - for me it is Ansermet. The twofer with both operas, in fact. That's one that I can't imagine ever being topped, even if the sound isn't as sparkly as Rattle gets (it sounds fine to my dull ears, mind you)

[Lisztianwagner]

Have to disagree - alongside three or four others, Ravel is my favourite composer, pretty much; every note he wrote means an enormous amount to me, and of all those notes, the ones making up L'enfant go to form what is IMO probably his greatest work. Its wit, charm, humanity, its classically Ravelian implications of vast depths of feeling beneath the brittle, superly pastiching surfaces, all this unfailingly brings tears to my eyes - and no other piece does that to me, none at all. All of which means nothing in itself, obviously - that's just me. But I think if a person such as me, who has many recordings of this piece, finds that all of them have this devestatng effect on me except Rattle's, then maybe that does indicate something. Rattle seems too safe and too charmless, and lacking in magic and innocence' he leaves me unmoved and indeed slightly put-off in this piece, which he ought to have been made for. But yes, just IMO of course.

No problem, I understand. I didn't have that impression listening to Rattle's performance, which on the contrary I found enchanting, magical and evocative. But of course, I'm not as familiar with L'enfant as you can be, I've got just two recordings of that Ravel's work so far.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Have to disagree - alongside three or four others, Ravel is my favourite composer, pretty much; every note he wrote means an enormous amount to me, and of all those notes, the ones making up L'enfant go to form what is IMO probably his greatest work.

That's quite a statement! I also love L'enfant, owning four recordings of the work including the Ansermet. But I can't say as I've felt as moved by the work as, say, some of the greatest of the keyboard works, the string quartet, the PC's....or even Kaddisch!

But if there's gold to be had that's eluded me in the past I'd sure like to be in on it. I'll give the Ansermet a whirl soon....

[Lisztianwagner]

Finished the first disc.



I enjoyed it very very much, Bavouzet's interpretations are absolutely outstanding; such a wonderful, impressive techinique he has, very elegant and with a splendid touch! The performances of Jeux d'eau, Sonatine and Miroirs are the best I've heard so far, absolutely beautiful and brilliant; about Gaspard de la nuit instead, although the Bavouzet is great, I continue to prefer the Ashkenazy.

[Lisztianwagner]

Yesterday I listened to Ravel's song cycle Sheherazade, such great, marvelous music, very suggestive and hauntingly beautiful! I really loved the floating, powerfully expressive melodies merged together in the composition, what a colourful and involving atmosphere the orchestra and the voice create! Same speech for the Violin Sonata, which I listened to some time ago (Mintz/Bronfman), an absolutely brilliant, thrilling work!

[Mirror Image]

New release coming. Looks promising:

[asin]B0092RR5EQ[/asin]

Chung is turning into quite the Ravel interpreter. I loved his Daphnis et Chloe recording and his performance of Ma Mere L'Oye.

[Lisztianwagner]

New release coming. Looks promising:

[asin]B0092RR5EQ[/asin]

Chung is turning into quite the Ravel interpreter. I loved his Daphnis et Chloe recording and his performance of Ma Mere L'Oye.

Sounds very good.

[North Star]

Sounds very good.

Do you have it, or do you mean that it's promising?
Certainly makes me drool, Muraro is one heck of a pianist, and Chung is no slouch, either.