Ravel - Daphnis & Chloe - Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

 

Release Date: April 14, 1992 Label: Decca Japan Number of discs: 1 Composer: Maurice Ravel Performer: Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande cd info/ buy

Review:

An idiomatic sense of style and a very fine ear have kept these performances before an admiring public for more than four decades in some cases. Ernest Ansermet's Daphnis et Chloé remains one of Ansermet's (and the work's) great recordings. It has that "magical" atmosphere in abundance, and a gripping symphonic logic that carries the work off in a single impressive span. Ansermet correctly treats the chorus as an integrated, coloristic background, and not soloistically, and if the final Bacchanale doesn't have quite the lift of some other favorite versions (Munch or Boulez, say), the scene in the pirate's camp and the threatening apparition of Pan never have been done better. Finally, although the disc claims that Ansermet plays Ma Mère l'Oye complete, he actually uses his own version, which includes the Prélude and first dance from the complete ballet, followed by Ravel's five-movement suite in its original (non-ballet) order without the connecting material composed for the stage presentation. It's an effective concept, and like most of the performances on this excellently remastered CD, one that well withstands the test of time.--David Hurwitz

 

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