Ravel Bolero

Seiji Ozawa conducts the most sensitive and emotional performance of Ravel I have ever experienced. I bought the record 30 years ago and nearly cried hearing it on CD all these years later. If you have not heard this, you have never heard Ravel.

There are not enough words in the English language to describe how good this performace is. The quality of the recording is also quite good. If you are looking for the definitive version of Ravel's masterpiece, you have just found it.

Jacques Loussier Trio - Ravel Bolero Loussier Nympheas [Telarc, 1999]
EAC Rip | FLAC, IMG+CUE, LOG | 285 MB | Covers, Booklet | TIFF (LWZ) 300ppi | 10 MB
Jazz | May 25, 1999 | Label: Telarc | Catalog Number: CD 83466 | RAR 10% Rec. | Rapidshare, Filesonic

Although pianist/composer Jacques Loussier is best known for his groundbreaking J.S. Bach albums, his ability to reinvent the work of other composers is equally amazing. Ravel’s Boléro covers two very different aspects of impressionism: a new interpretation of "Boléro" by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) and seven short compositions by Loussier that were inspired by Claude Monet’s paintings of waterlilies or "Nymphéas." While his emotions are wrapped up in the music and time of Ravel, it is Loussier’s resourceful ability to dance between the borders of jazz and classical music that is most likely to give his latest Telarc release its enduring appeal.

www.concordmusicgroup.com

Pierre Monteux was 86 when the first of these recording sessions took place and would die in 1964, when he recorded the Bolero here–no doubt the oldest conductor to do so. You can detect a bit of slackening in the later performances, but the Ma Mere l'Oye ballet is also form 1964 and sounds lovely. Don't expect flash and virtuosity, although the LSO certainly plays well. Approach this CD as a memento of one of the century's premiere musicians.

The listener may see the phrase "piano Erard 1905" on the cover of this album of Ravel works and wonder whether the historical performance movement has really gone too far. And truly this is, at least from a modern standpoint, an unusual and even bizarre Ravel recording. It's not so much the Erard piano, which sounds as though it was made to play Fauré and Debussy, but is not so far from other concert grands. What's strange is the general interpretation by Flemish historical keyboardist Jos van Immerseel, known mostly for his performances of music from the eighteenth and perhaps the early nineteenth centuries.

Conductor Robert Trevino's new album release on Ondine – after a successful debut with a complete Beethoven symphony cycle – features six orchestral pieces by Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), one of the most famous Basque composers, played by the Basque National Orchestra. Born in a small town in France very close to the Spanish border, Ravel spent most of his life in Paris. However, he was extremely proud of his Basque background having absorbed himself to the culture already as a child, and many elements of Basque music can be found in his compositions. In this historic release, we can finally hear Ravel's orchestral music being interpreted by Basque musicians in the form of the Basque National Orchestra. These performances on some of the most fantastic orchestral scores of the 20th Century also shed light to the Basque influences in Ravel's music.

Maurice Ravel: Bolero; Alborada del gracioso; La valse; Daphis et Chloe; Raspodie Espagnole –
Schola Cantorum; Orchestre National de France; New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 315 MB | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Full scans | RS links
Publisher: Sony Classical | Recorded: 1975 | Published: 1998

Editorial Reviews- Amazon.com
What a potent combo: Maurice Ravel and Leonard Bernstein. Boléro slowly comes to a steady boil without any ingredients overflowing. By contrast, in Alborada del Gracioso and La Valse, Bernstein thoroughly revels in his French orchestra's watery brass and silvery string tuttis. Back in Manhattan, the Daphnis and Chloé suite and Rapsodie Espagnol are lusty without ever sounding vulgar. Some might find the miking a hair spotlit for their tastes, but Ravel's breathtaking orchestration can withstand such scrutiny. So can Bernstein and company. An ingratiating release. –Jed Distler