Going back to Ravel ...

[Alison]

It's a shame that whenever reflecting on the great composer my mind
inevitably returns to the messageboard moans regarding the excessive outings
for La Valse and Bolero.

Could we possibly have a Ravel thread where we see beyond such issues ?

It's so heartwarning to return to works like the Piano Trio and Gaspard and to take down
(say) the Roger Nichols books.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Could we possibly have a Ravel thread where we see beyond such issues ?

An excellent suggestion, Alison: a superbly urbane and deeply moving composer whose work I love. My only problem is where to start? How about those wonderful (and wonderfully different) song cycles Scheherazade and the Chansons Madecasses - the first drooping with sensuous beauty, the second seething with furious passion. Perfectly written for the voices and instruments involved and revealing the composer's enviable ability to hear what his contemporaries were doing and transforming what he heard into Music that only he could've written.

Thanks for starting this thread, I hope it prospers!

[amateur51]

It's a shame that whenever reflecting on the great composer my mind
inevitably returns to the messageboard moans regarding the excessive outings
for La Valse and Bolero.

Could we possibly have a Ravel thread where we see beyond such issues ?

It's so heartwarning to return to works like the Piano Trio and Gaspard and to take down
(say) the Roger Nichols books.

This was well-reviewed in IRR recently, Alison

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ravel-Roger-Nichols/dp/0300108826/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322757924&sr=1-1

and I keep meaning to read this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ravel-Jean-Echenoz/dp/1595581154/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6

[BBMmk2]

As with the Piano Trio, didn't Yan Pascal Tortelier, make a transcription of this for orchestra at the proms a few yearsago. Very well thought out, imo.

[Alison]

BBM

Gosh, I'd virtually forgotten about that. I admired the considerable skill and imagination involved

but never felt compelled to listen much again.

[Serial_Apologist]

I've been thinking about Ravel for some time, and it has occurred to me that, of all the composers of the 20th century, his has probably been the greatest influence on subsequent composers, with the exception of those following in the line of the Second Viennese School. From Vaughan Williams to..................................Gil Evans.

That influence could be arguably ascribed to Debussy, but that raises the "who did what before whom?" question; besides which, Debussy's innovations were, I think, too specific to his own inventiveness to be readily copyable.

S-A

[barber olly]

It's a shame that whenever reflecting on the great composer my mind
inevitably returns to the messageboard moans regarding the excessive outings
for La Valse and Bolero.

Could we possibly have a Ravel thread where we see beyond such issues ?

It's so heartwarning to return to works like the Piano Trio and Gaspard and to take down
(say) the Roger Nichols books.

Alison
What a great idea. First let's get the Bolero, La Valse thing out of the way first and not bracket them together. If I never heard Bolero again I would be happy, but I never tire of La Valse - I think it was the decca LAPO Mehta recording , 40plus years ago that it was indeed a great work. Apart from the B work, I could listen to Ravel all day - the orchestral colour of the complete Daphnis or Mother Goose, the beauty of Scheherazade, on a blind tasting how on earth could you know that the PC for Left Hand did not use both, and of the many works which are available in piano or orchestral form, which came first? Also the recording studios have been very kind to Ravel. There appear to be so many good versions of almost everyhing he wrote and interesting recordings of other composers orchestrations of his work and indeed his orchestrations of others. His influence as an orchestrator greatly influenced and refined Vaughan Williams' compositions.

[johnb]

I think Sheherazade is one of the most gorgeous pieces in the repertoire and I find Monteux's Ravel recordings truly magical, much more so than those of any other conductor.

[barber olly]

I think Sheherazade is one of the most gorgeous pieces in the repertoire and I find Monteux's Ravel recordings truly magical, much more so than those of any other conductor.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

[Mandryka]

I rarely think of (or listen to) Bolero or La Valse.

Much prefer the Introduction and Allegro and the String Quartet.

[EdgeleyRob]

I tend to listen to The string quartet,piano trio and solo piano music more than anything else by Ravel.

[Nick Armstrong]

Going back to Ravel...

Oh yes! Something I do often. One of my top four or five composers, ever since I discovered the G major piano concerto while still at school - I still have the piano solo from the start of the second movement written out in my own 16 yo hand from a score borrowed from the local library, and still play through it.

I've always felt I understood his 'language' and his mind-set much more than Debussy's or Stravinsky's or Bartok's for instance.

Inexhaustible for me are:

- G major Concerto (Argerich/Abbado; Bavouzet/Tortelier... and new surprise favourite, Yundi Li/BPO-Ozawa)

- Left-Hand Concerto (Collard/Maazel; Aimard/Boulez)

- Shéhérazade (Crespin /Ansermet; Price/Abbado; von Otter/Boulez)

- Piano Trio (Trio Dali)

- L'Enfant et les Sortileges (Ansermet!! ; Maazel).... makes me come over all weak at the knees just to think of "Toi, le coeur de la rose" and those final choruses "Il a pansé la plaie..." and "Il est bon, l'enfant, il est sage"... and that final "Maman!"

- Ma Mere l'oye (amazing live recording by the Danish National Radio Symphony Orch under Temirkanov on Chandos )

[Serial_Apologist]

I think my favourite work is "L'Enfant et les Sortileges" - the best recording imo still being Ansermet's with the Suisse Romande from the 50s. I think Ansermet understood the spirit of Ravel - his ability to live in the mind of a child also represented by his version of "Ma Mere L'Oie" - better than anyone since.

[jayne lee wilson]

A deep and long love-affair here! Where to start... Ravel is so lucky on record!

Valse Nobles et Sentimentales - Cluytens' stereo one, The famous Reiner...
There are many early stereo classics because his music was seen as ideal for demonstrating the wonders of two channels, quite a few found their way from those reels onto gold CDs or JVC XRCD...

Anyone else get the Accord box of Manuel Rosenthal's Paris Recordings a few years ago? Some great Ravel in there, including an extraordinary mono Valse Nobles... the piece does seem to inspire its performers. Love Rosenthal's Menuet Antique too.

Alborada del Gracioso, Rapsodie Espagnole - d'you know Eduardo Mata's anthology with the Dallas SO? A great Daphnis from them too...
One of Karajan's rare Paris Orchestra discs also includes those first 2...

With the Piano Concertos there are great Toshibas of the G major set down by, who else, Michelangeli with Gracis/Philharmonia (stunningly c/w Rach 4) in unbelievable sound for 1957; a personal favourite for both is Samson Francois, with Cluytens and the Conservatoire.

Paul Paray left some fine Detroit tapings including a lovely Tombeau... the whole Ravel catalogue is just a cornucopia!

I always think of Ravel as a Spring and Summer composer, the rich and sensuous sound palette speaks of a return to warmth and life.