Customer Reviews

Ravel: Boléro, Alborada del gracioso, La Valse and other works

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this thinking that this recording was a re-issue of Bernstein's famous studio performance of Bolero/La Valse (recorded, I think in 1958 or 59). THAT studio recording (Columbia) surpasses any other orchestration of those two masterworks by anyone, ever.
Needless to say the orchestra for this particular Bernstein rendition was awful in performing both Bolero and La Valse. Some sections of the orchestra are over miked while some other sections are under miked, making Bolero's famous final crescendo
shrill and choppy.
Bernstein said it himself: Bolero is the most abused classical work--perhaps because of the intricate instrumentaion of the work. I'm not a muscian, so I don't know. Anyway, Both Bolero and La Valse--two masterpieces of music not equalled by any other composer-- deserve better treatment than given here by the techinically limited, over/under miked performances given by the French symphony orchestra in this recording.
Get the Columbia/Bernstein version of Bolero-La Valse . It is the standard , model interpretation of those works.

This Bernstein Century CD of Ravel's most famous works for orchestra is really not as bad as the previous reviwer indicated in his two reviews. When it comes to Ravel, I would select Munch, Paray or Cluytens before Bernstein, but with that being said this is an excellent disc. I find Bernstein's accounts better than many of his then contemporaries, and that includes readily available performances by Reiner, Szell and Ormandy. The sound, like all of Bernstein's vintage stereo recordings with the New York Philharmonic for CBS/Columbia/Sony, is full and rich. Fans looking for the complete Daphnis Et Chloe will want to pass on this (get the Munch on RCA Living Stereo), but otherwise you should have no reservations in purchasing this title.

This is very good playing, except for the Bolero, which is sub-standard. There are places in Bolero where the ensemble is out of sync, and where the woodwinds are woefully out-of-tune. You'd think it'd be better, wouldn't you? It seems under-rehearsed and poorly recorded. So don't buy this disk for that. On the other hand, La Valse is as frightening as it should be, Daphnis et Chloe is thrilling, and Alboradora is workmanlike.

Bernstein's Ravel recordings take a bit of straightening out. The Bolero, La valse, and Alborado del gracioso recorded in Paris date from 1975. The Daphnis et Chloe Suite o. 2 is with the NY Phil. from 1961. The finale item, Rapsodie espagnole, is also with the Philharmonic but later, 1973. Strangely, the cover doesn't list this last item. I note the various dates because the young Bernstein in 1961 was fresher and more energized in Ravel than his later self. but that isn't to gainsay that he was greeted with adulation in Paris, and the musicians give a Gallic tang to the selections they play, almost compensating for the lost of brilliance that the Philharmonic brings to Daphnis.

If you want Bolero, La valse, and an early Rapsodie espagnole from 1959, they are with the Philharmonic in 1959. Sony has released them in several incarnations, including their updated Great Performances series in enhanced sound with the original LP cover. The Parisian performances are heavier, more studied, yet in very vivid sound. The New York ones, particularly la valse, are livelier and edgier. Nothing detracts from Bernstein's imagination at any stage of his career, but I msut confess that the Alborada on this CD becomes ponderous, the last thing that Ravel should be.

The second suite that Ravel extracted from Daphnis et Chloe is actually the whole of Part III. What's heard here is that act taken from Bernstein's complete recording. It can be found in the Royal Edition in its entirety. Sony waited until 1978 to release the complete ballet in England, where the Gramophone declared it a disappointment on several grounds: dated sound, lack of attention to Ravel's shading of color, and absence of theatricality. Actually, I tend to agree that Bernstein is far more generalized than someone like boulez or Monteux; he seems more interested in the general sweep and forward motion of the music. In that regard, he leads one of the most exciting versions of the climactic Danse generale on disc. But a disappointment overall? Hardly - the Bernstein magic is present throughout, with more eroticism in the Pantomime than might go down in the British Isles.

I've taken space to sort out some of these various recordings, but except for the Alboarda, everything here is fascinating to hear and rehear. Still, I would seek out that complete Daphnis and the earlier selections with the NY Phil.

If you don't have any interest in this recording academically, don't buy it. The resolution is very thin, and at times becomes over-saturated. At times in Dafnis, I have to strain my ear to hear what I'm KNOW is suppose to be there. This ablum, like many in this series (save Mahler 4, 7), is very disappointing, and I would have returned this album if I wasn't interested in Berstein's muscial approach.

I will keep this cd in my library, but will definitely find another Ravel recording for easy listening.

I grew up with Charles Dutoit but came to appreciate Leonard Bernstein from listening to the local radio station on my morning commute. Bolero, by Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937), is one of those pieces that are almost impossible to play badly so there are very many good versions on the market. I found this to be very easy to follow.

Ravel takes a single Spanish sounding line and repeats it with some variation and variation of interments. In this way he has capture the feel of Spanish music better than most originals. Timing is everything and we are carried along with the music. We start out slow and quiet, repetition using exotic instruments as the obo has us mesmerized, eventually build to frenzy and them a release.

This piece was also used as the background music in the movie "10" for its alternative use.

The balance of this CD is other Ravel/Bernstein recordings that you may come to appreciate as much if not more than Bolero.

Ravel has always been of special interest to me since I first studied his "Rapsodie espagnol" in my music history course, followed by the BYU Philharmonic performing an all-Ravel concert in 2005. Here, the various pieces are individually breath-taking and powerful. My favorite of the mix is definitely the Daphnis et Chloe suite. Even though, supposedly, Ravel wrote the suites without vocal parts, the voices add an element to the piece that is just so hauntingly beautiful you want to listen to it over and over. Also, the Rapsodie is fascinating, particularly the Ferio movement. Bernstein's direction and the orchestra's playing makes for lively listening, and you will not be left disappointed when all is said and done.