Igor Stravinsky - Ballets – Ernest Ansermet, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

 

Release Date: 09/05/1994 Label: Decca Number of discs: 2 Composer: Igor Stravinsky Performer: Ernest Ansermet cd info/ buy

Review:

Ernest Ansermet's authority in the music of Stravinsky was unsurpassed: he had a close working relationship with the composer for a quarter of a century and was involved in the original productions of a number of his most significant works including The Firebird, The Rite of Spring, Petrushka, The Soldier's Tale, The Song of the Nightingale and Pulcinella. Ansermet's recordings, which were both meticulous and inspired, were the ones to have even after Stravinsky himself took up the baton. These are very early stereo recordings that were considered state of the art both artistically and sonically right through the LP era. Because The Firebird recording dates from 1955, Petrushka and Rite of Spring date from 1957, and Les Noces from 1961, one might think that the sound cannot compete with today's recording technology; however, that would be an inaccurate conclusion to draw. Decca's recordings were atmospheric but detailed, and pleasingly warm and rich, characteristics that have been maintained on these cd transfers.

 

flac, covers

Delibes - Coppelia - Nagano, Orchestre de L'Opera de Lyon

 

Release Date: February 8, 1994 Label: Erato Number of discs: 2 Composer: Leo Delibes Performer: Kent Nagano cd info/ buy

Review:

The story of Coppélia explores a young man's passion for a beautiful girl who turns out to be a mechanical doll, exploring a popular mythological theme of creating a being who is more perfect and tantalizing than any human counterpart. There is definitely more to the score of Coppélia than what first meets the eye.  Kent Nagano brings out many of these subtleties in his consistent reading of Delibes' most loved ballet. His tempi are very convincing, and the playing of the Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon is first class. No. 14, the music for the Automata, is given virtuosic treatment. Listen to that flute playing!

 

flac, covers

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

 

flac, covers