Search - Ravel, Skrowaczewski, Minnesota Orchestra :: Orchestral Works 1

Legandary Performances and Recordings

J. Poss | Pahrump, Nevada | 05/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These recordings along with Volume 2 of Ravel's orchestral music performed by the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski have become a legend in the audiophile world. They are the best recorded performances of Ravel's music I have ever heard and I have many on CD. The ones with the Minnesota Orchestra were recorded by the famous team of Marc Aubort and the late Joanna Nickrenz who were among the first to use Dolby A Noise reduction (called Dolby s/n stretcher), which for the first time achieved a signal to noise ratio of over 80 db on magnetic tape. These recordings were made in the mid to late 1970's for the Vox/Turnabaout label in the new Minnesota Orchestra Hall. This hall is considered by many to be the most acoustically perfect hall in the world. Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz captured the orchestra and ambient hall beautifully. There is great detail yet the hall reverberation is captured to great and beautiful effect which really enhances the performance.



Stanislaw Skrowaczewski has a way of superbly shaping Ravel's phrases and his performances have a delicate beauty contrasted with loud flamboyant flourishes that are perfect for Ravel music. The result is truly THRILLING in Bolero and Rhapsodie Espagnole and delicately moving in Pavane and Minuet.



Mobile Fidelity thought well enough of these recordings to re-master some of them onto 2 Super Audio CDs in the true original surround sound!!!! I highly recommend them. GORGEOUS!!

Ravel: Bolero; La Valse; etc. [Hybrid SACD]

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé Suites; Ma Mère l'Oye; Valses nobles et sentimentales [Hybrid SACD]



The recording of the Piano Concerto with the Luxembourg Radio Orchestra is not as good as the Minnesota orchestra recordings but Abbey Simon's performance is absolutely superb and worth hearing.

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What Once Was a Marvelous Bargain

Moldyoldie | Motown, USA | 05/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This VoxBox release contains very fine performances of Ravel's most popular orchestral works, including the longest, most beautifully languorous Bolero one will ever hear! However, the Rhapsodie Espagnole, Alborada del Gracioso, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Menuet Antique, and Pavane for a Dead Princess all display a similar sense of both idiom and elegance and are played with expansive fervor by Skrowaczewski and the Minnesotans. The orchestra is captured in very clean and warm analog sound.



This 2-CD set is bookended by what I consider to be bonus recordings of the Piano Concerto and String Quartet. Abbey Simon tackles the concerto's intricacies with charm and panache, accompanied sympathetically by the Luxumbourg orchestra, if not with the nth degree of rapture. The Quartet in F Major is played with technical assurance by The New Hungarian Quartet, but is recorded a bit too closely as one hears much obtrusive breathing during the performance.



It's unfortunate for the novice and the bargain hunter that these once very economical releases (originally in two 2-CD sets) are no longer available new in their original CD incarnations, but Skrowaczewski's Ravel performances have been re-released in a couple of pricey "original surround sound" releases by Mobile Fidelity: Ravel: Bolero; La Valse; etc. [Hybrid SACD] and Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé Suites; Ma Mère l'Oye; Valses nobles et sentimentales [Hybrid SACD]"