Jacques Ibert Maurice Ravel Paul Paray - Ibert Escales Ravel Rapsodie etc (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

Terrific Performances - FABULOUS Sound

Craig Matteson | Ann Arbor, MI | 07/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Paray was a great conductor and contributed a great deal to the musical heritage of Detroit even if that isn't remembered as deeply as it should be. I bought this disk because of his musicianship and expected it to be full of wonderful performances and somewhat old sounding recording. I was wrong. It is full of wonderful performances and amazing sound. The power and depth of the sound is some of the best I have ever heard. They should still make recordings this way because a lot of the new stuff doesn't sound as good. I want to get more of these Mercury Living Presence 35mm recordings. Wow!And - remember that there is not such thing as too much Ravel (at least I don't think there is)."

This is how it's done

Mark McCue | Denver, CO USA | 02/12/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Paray premiered Ibert's Escales and has a remarkably clear-eyed view of it. He was 75 when he made this, his second, recording of it with the Detroit Symphony. Eschewing the temptation to make something decent of it ala Stokowski, Martinon and Rodzinski among others, Paray gives us his ports of call in technicolor and panavision, just like a 1950s travel poster: glossy, gorgeously played and recorded, never rushed but never static. It is what it is and no more, but it's wondeful listening.The other classics are those of the composers themselves and the conductor. Nowhere do they or he acquit themselves better than here. Again, the late 50s-early 60s (some 35mm) sound is extraordinary and lavished on the right material and maestro. In La Valse and Pavane especially we get that nasty, bitter undertow of the Gallic sensibility. Paray gets it from sticking to the score but roaming all around and through it to lead us where we've never been before."

Very good to among the best available.

R. J. Claster | Van Nuys, CA United States | 05/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Paray is one of the best conductors in this repertoire. His performances are, in general, marked by somewhat dry, lean textures and crisp, driving rhythms, leavened, however, by enough nuance and suppleness of phrasing to bring out the distinctive character of this music. As to this particular collection, my only caveats are that the Rhapsodie is somewhat staid and square, lacking either the sensuous warmth of the Martinon-Chicago, or the fiery impulsivity of the Munch-Boston, both on RCA. Also, the first movement of Escales (Rome-Palermo) lacks the contrast between the languor of the opening passages and the driving tarantella rhythms that follow, which Munch achieves very tellingly in his Boston recording. On the other hand, Le Tombeau is my favorite because Paray's light, crisp approach brings out the dance rhythms more effectively than in other performances I have heard, and the La Valse has all the fire and drive of the Munch-Boston, but with nuances of phrasing that impart more subtlety to this piece than in Munch's more one dimensional approach. Lovers of Ravel should get this collection."

A Most Sinister La Valse! Excitement Abounds!

Terrill L Sanford | Southfield, Michigan United States | 05/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to admit something, My first EVER Classical rocording bought was Bernstein's Version of Ravel's Music on a CBS Cassette and it included "La Valse" as well as "Bolero" "Daphnis and Chloe Suite #2" and "Alborada Del Gracioso" I must as well admit that the impetus was because i had seen for the first time Torvill and Dean Skate to "Bolero" otherwise i had not known what this inspired piece of music was until then. when i got the Cassette i played it into submission. now onto modern times! as much as i revere that aforementioned recording, i have to say that Ravel's music is not as well glorified by any other conductor as with Paray. His Touch is not in the most remote terms Genteel or Rarefied. In fact they are Cruel, almost Sadistic in their whiplash treatments of music, The Sarcasm and cold French Wit of the music more severe and Overt than in anybody else's hands. and that's the Glory! The Humour is Very obvious, but as in the "La Valse" the humour is seen through extremely bitter eyes. Ravel was very upset by the events of the world when he wrote this Sinister commentary on the Light-Hearted Gaiety of Johann Strauss, but here, as i have often commented to friends, "La Valse" sounds like Danny Elfman had Reworked the Score to the Movie "Sabrina" Like some Berlioz Opium drenched Vision of Walt Disney's "Fantasia" Sarcastic as well as Caustic, "La Valse" is anything BUT pretty Ballroom Music, It's a embittered Commentary on a bygone era and Paray and his Detroit Band wring every ounce of Bitter Disillusionment and anger out of this Masterwork of Ravel. Not that they miss the inherent Wink and a Smile attitude of the music, in places it is as elegant as anything Johann the younger ever wrote, even that other Strauss writer of Fabulous Waltzes, Richard. but to simply view the Veneer of this work and not go beyond the surface to hear the Vituperation and Bitterness is to not understand this work. Paray is Again, Savage, Merciless, and never Clinical or Dry or Academic, he feels the "Frenchness" of this "Valse" and brings his "In-The-Know" French Sensibility to all of these works! his vision of "La Valse" sweeps all others under the rug and his Band responds eloquently and fiercely as the baton and conductor dictate! "Alborada" seems like the Little Sister to the Big Sister "La Valse" and Paray conducts it with the same Sinister and Vicious approach that makes "La Valse" ring in ones head for a long time after hearing this version. Memorable doesn't even come close to categorizing this performance. By far the Must-Have Versions of these Fantastically "French" Works!"

Search - Jacques Ibert, Maurice Ravel, Paul Paray :: Ibert: Escales; Ravel: Rapsodie, etc

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