BaL 12.02.22 - Ravel: Daphnis & Chloé

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

An interesting and perceptive BaL. It was soon apparent that Boulez was going to be high on the list.

[Bryn]

Just a word of warning to those who do not already have the top choice. On amazon.co.uk, it cost rather more to purchase the individual disc than to get the 6-disc set of his DG recordings of Ravel and Debussy, and that's not pro-rata but total cost, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boulez-cond...r%2C108&sr=1-1

[Alison]

The LSO/Monteux should be in every library no matter what other choice is made. The Boston SO/Munch is also terrific.

For a modern digital choice I would unhesitatingly go for BPO/Boulez. His NYPO recording is also first class but the Berlin playing and recorded sound is on another level and is outstanding in every way. I'd be surprised if this isn't the BaL 'winner' again.

Good call Petrushka.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Just a word of warning to those who do not already have the top choice. On amazon.co.uk, it cost rather more to purchase the individual disc than to get the 6-disc set of his DG recordings of Ravel and Debussy, and that's not pro-rata but total cost, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boulez-cond...r%2C108&sr=1-1

Thanks Bryn, duly ordered. I've not been very much of a Boulez devotee in this repertoire but his grasp and integration of detail plus the clarity of the recording really sold it to me. And only the Zimerman piano concertos disc duplicated

[DoctorT]

Just a word of warning to those who do not already have the top choice. On amazon.co.uk, it cost rather more to purchase the individual disc than to get the 6-disc set of his DG recordings of Ravel and Debussy, and that's not pro-rata but total cost, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boulez-cond...r%2C108&sr=1-1

It’s also on Amazon Music

[Bryn]

It’s also on Amazon Music

In lossy mp3. It deserves better.

[HighlandDougie]

Jeremy Sams, as usual, an excellent guide to the music as the work unfolded. Apart from Bringuier, I seem to have all the illustrated versions. I'll stick with Roth as my favourite (not least because I think he makes more of Parts 1 and 2 of the ballet than Boulez) but what an embarass de richesses! Not sure about Munch's "lulu" chorus but doesn't it still sound glorious? And the Cluytens - terrific. I thought a very good BaL.

[Keraulophone]

It deserves better.

Better (16/44): https://play.qobuz.com/album/0002894470572

Les Siècles, even better (24/96): https://play.qobuz.com/album/3149020926109

[kuligin]

Jeremy Sams, as usual, an excellent guide to the music as the work unfolded. . I thought a very good BaL.

I totally agree, the difference between several recent reviewers who just played extracts without any insight or even any explanation of the reasons for their choice, and someone who really knew the piece and the performances inside out was marked. One of the best BaL for some time.

[Bryn]

Better (16/44): https://play.qobuz.com/album/0002894470572

Les Siècles, even better (24/96): https://play.qobuz.com/album/3149020926109

Yes, my source for the Roth, a few days ago. I already had Boulez's Ravel/Debussy box.

[Bryn]

How many others here still feel a bit of a jolt at the transition from the Interlude to Danse guerrière?

[ardcarp]

I've not been very much of a Boulez devotee in this repertoire

I don't think I've ever heard the complete ballet score. Something I must get. There used to be quite a discussion about Boulez conducting Debussy, Ravel and the like. Many thought there ought to be an analogy with Impressionist art, i.e. everything a bit wishy-washy and blurred. Boulez, with his incredible ear and attention brought a clarity and precision which not everyone liked. I certainly liked it in what we heard today. Mind you, perhaps one ought to value Pierre Monteux...what an amazing thing to have conducted Ravel and Stravinsky fresh off the page and still to be conducting in the 1960s when I was a student.

Just a couple of things to add. Obvious really, but I've always thought what amazingly original use of orchestral instruments Ravel made both singly and in combination. Adding the wordless chorus to Daphnis and Chloe was a master stroke.
The next is a bit of a petty niggle. Jeremy Sams mentionrd an instruction in the score, "Voix lointains", but it should surely be "Voix lointaines" ? Otherwise his French sounded OK.

[Bryn]

One of Sams's criticisms of the Roth was in relation to the authenticity of its reverberant acoustic. Since the recording is a 'pick and mix' of concert performances in some 7 different venues, close-miking must have been required, so was Sams referring to artificial reverb added in post-production? If so, I wonder which of the venues, if any, it was based on?

[ardcarp]

I didn't even notice any excessive reverb.

[HighlandDougie]

One of Sams's criticisms of the Roth was in relation to the authenticity of its reverberant acoustic. Since the recording is a 'pick and mix' of concert performances in some 7 different venues, close-miking must have been required, so was Sams referring to artificial reverb added in post-production? If so, I wonder which of the venues, if any, it was based on?

Judging from the acoustic (and my experience of both the hall and other recordings made in it), I'd say that the 'base' recording is from the Philharmonie de Paris.