Daphnis And

'The arrival of an orchestra like Les Siècles on the harmonia mundi label is entirely logical: ever since it was founded by François-Xavier Roth in 2003, its musicians (mostly belonging to the new generation) have succeeded in placing several centuries of musical creation in perspective by playing the works they tackle on precisely the instruments used at the time of their premiere – without the slightest concession.

„Ravel's magnificent "choreographic symphony" was the musical preserve of two great French conductors, Pierre Monteux and Charles Munch. Munch recorded the work twice for RCA, and this is the earlier of his two versions. Neither is better than the other. To the composer's customary brilliance of sound, Munch added an almost physical urgency and impact. Listening to this colorful performance, you can really hear stuff happening from one moment to the next. The actual plot is irrelevant to your enjoyment. What stays with you is a sense of movement, of thrills and chills on the way to a gloriously happy ending.“ (David Hurwitz)

When Maurice Ravel in 1909 was commissioned by the ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev to write a score based on the ancient Greek novel Daphnis and Chloe, he decided to compose 'a huge musical fresco, concerned less with archaism than with faithfulness to the Greece of my dreams'. Three years later, when Daphnis et Chloé was first performed by the Ballets Russes, it had indeed grown into Ravel’s longest work, playing for about an hour and requiring a large orchestra with an extended percussion section, not to mention a choir.

Ravel’s early masterpiece, Daphnis et Chloé, was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes, and was premièred in the Théâtre du Châtelet in July 1912. Described by Ravel as a ‘symphonie chorégraphique’ (choreographic symphony), the work was performed just twice in that 1912 season, and was given only three more performances the following year. Press reaction was muted, and it is now much more often performed as a concert work than as a ballet.

Composed for Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, Ravel’s ‘symphonie chorégraphique’ Daphnis et Chloé is based on a classical Greco-Roman love story set on the island of Lesbos.

Daphnis et Chloé, commissioned for the Ballets Russes by Serge Diaghilev is one of Ravel’s most ambitious works and its premiere in Paris gathered the most innovative artists of their time: Fokine at the choreography, Nijinsky in the leading role, Leon Bakst for the scenery (the set design he created for Daphnis is represented on the artwork).

This varied and vivid selection of works shows Ravel as the master of the ‘choreographic symphony’, words he himself used to describe his masterpiece Daphnis et Chloé, which contains some of his boldest and most resplendent music. His imagination retained a direct link to the poetry of children, as shown in Ma mère l’oye, whilst in Valses nobles et sentimentales he set out to write a sequence of waltzes following the example of Schubert. These classic VOX recordings from 1974 by Stanisław Skrowaczewski and the Minnesota Orchestra are critically acclaimed. The Elite Recordings for VOX by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.

Pierre Benjamin Monteux, born April 4, 1875 in Paris 9e and died July 1, 1964 in Hancock (Maine, United States), is a French musician, naturalized American in 1942. In parallel with his brilliant career as a conductor, he had an important pedagogical activity, both in France and in the United States.