These magnificent recordings of the Ravel Piano Concertos have taken a far too long leave of absence from the Decca catalogue and are now back, with generous Faure and Franck couplings. Beautifully recorded sound too.
There are few Ravel orchestral compilations – at any price – that could hold a candle to this one. And most of the Mehta material appears on CD for the first time. A wilder ‘La Valse’, a more erotic ‘Daphnis et Chloé’ with its orgiastic finale you’d be hard-pressed to find! And what a magical finale […]
From the magical fairy-tale world of Red Riding Hood in Ravel’s ‘Mother Goose’, through the langurous haze of an afternoon in Debussy’s ‘Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune’, to the scintillating Spanish rhythms of ‘Rapsodie Espagnole’ and the black-and-white of both ‘En blanc et noir’ as well as the Stravinsky Sonata, this legendary piano duo partnership delivers […]
One of Kiri Te Kanawa’s rare recorded excursions into song repertoire, this consummate recital is once more restored to the Decca catalogue. Including such popular favourites as Rachmaninov’s ‘Vocalise’ and Granados’ ‘La maja y el ruiseñor’, Obradors’ wonderful ‘Cinco canciones clasicas espanolas’ and a quartet of beautiful songs by Liszt.
One of Riccardo Chailly’s first recordings with the Concertgebouw, reissued at super-budget price and marking the conductor’s glorious tenure with this magnificent orchestra, this disc provides a fascinating picture of Ravel the Orchestrator. For those after thrilling recordings of ‘Bolero’ and ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ this is a self-recommending recording but the rare gems by […]
This generously compiled CD brings together two great sopranos – Hildegard Behrens and Elly Ameling – in ravishing French music for the voice and orchestra. The entire Ameling/de Waart recording (Ravel, Duparc, Debussy) is coupled with the Berlioz cycle, the former making a welcome return to the catalogue after a long absence and showcasing the […]
This collection of Ravel’s most popular piano works restores to the catalogue all the Ravel that Vladimir Ashkenazy ever recorded – a thrilling ‘Gaspard’ (his second – 1982 – recording of this work) as well as the ‘Pavane’ and ‘Valses’. The coupling presents the gifted young pianist, Naida Cole, in an ethereal ‘Jeux d’eau’ and […]
Seiji Ozawa’s magnificent Ravel recordings for DG were made in the 1970s and issued as a 3CD set. They have long been out of the catalogue and are now reissued individually and at budget price on Eloquence. The sheer energy and sense of colour, the acuity of Ozawa and the Bostonians response to every shifting […]
Seiji Ozawa’s magnificent Ravel recordings for DG were made in the 1970s and issued as a 3CD set. They have long been out of the catalogue and are now reissued individually and at budget price on Eloquence. The sheer energy and sense of colour, the acuity of Ozawa and the Bostonians response to every shifting […]
Seiji Ozawa’s magnificent Ravel recordings for DG were made in the 1970s and issued as a 3CD set. They have long been out of the catalogue and are now reissued individually and at budget price on Eloquence. The sheer energy and sense of colour, the acuity of Ozawa and the Bostonians response to every shifting […]
Three of Ravel’s chamber works, none currently available in the catalogue, all coupled at budget price. The Beaux Arts’ magnificent, full-throttle reading of the Piano Trio is their most recent (1983) recording of this work. The Carmirelli Quartet recorded for Decca in the 1950s and theirs is a demure reading of the String Quartet. Eduard […]
As he explains in his liner notes for this CD, Lynn Harrell uses the voice as his point of departure for this collection of encores. They are largely reflective pieces with a bit of fun such as the unfairly forgotten Glazunov ‘Spanish Serenade’ thrown in for good measure. And this once popular disc now makes […]
