Ravel: Daphnis & Chloe (complete ballet) / Bolero / Pavane pour une infante defunte

Ravel: Daphnis & Chloe (complete ballet) / Bolero / Pavane pour une infante defunte cover $30.00 Out of Stock
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MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Daphnis & Chloe (complete ballet) / Bolero / Pavane pour une infante defunte
London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Valery Gergiev

[ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD ]

Release Date: Wednesday 18 November 2015

This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.

Ravel was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev in 1909 to write the music for Daphnis et Chloé. Although he subsequently prepared orchestral suites of the score, the complete work is a magnificent orchestral showpiece in its own right. Ravel described it as a symphonie choréographique although it is essentially an extended tone poem. Luscious orchestral colours run throughout the work, portraying the passion of the two protagonists for each other. By contrast, Pavane pour une infante défunte, composed whilst Ravel was still a student of Gabriel Fauré, harks back to the simplicity of the eighteenth-century music of Rameau.

Boléro, available in this package as a DVD, is one of his final works, and is a fiery showpiece, highlighting the Spanish influences and passion that pervade so many of his works.

"High voltage, but not high speed. Gergiev doesn't charge his way through the score. Indeed his measured 'Introduction et Danse religieuse' demonstrates his willingness to linger, but there's drama too. He is aided by superb playing...Boléro has precision and power" International Record Review

"Gergiev generates a frisson in everything he conducts, but it is only in French and Russian repertoire that his stylistic antennae seem secure...This Daphnis with the London Symphony Orchestra has everything one could want - atmosphere, languor, superb wind playing. Gergiev generates more high-voltage drama than rival versions" Financial Times

"The most striking thing about these fine performances is their seductive combination of tonal warmth and sparkling virtuoso finesse...Gergiev conjures up an intoxicatingly languorous soundworld for Daphnis, fully indulging its glittering palette of orchestral colours" Classic FM

Tracks:

Daphnis et Chloé
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Boléro

Boléro
DVD extra