Search - Maurice Ravel, Pierre Boulez, New York Philharmonic :: Boulez Conducts Ravel

How Boulez revolutionized Ravel

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When these recordings of Ravel orchestral staples came out over thirty years ago, nobody had heard anything quite like it. For American listeners, Ravel meant either Charles Munch's rather slapdash exuberance or Bernstein's extroverted thrills. What Boulez brought is familiar now, his trademark precision, transparency, and exacting balances. But being younger then, he was also very exciting--these readings don't have the whiff of clinical aloofness that would creep into his musicmaking over the years.



It also helps that both the NY Phil. and the Cleveland Orch. were filled with virtuosos. Ravel wrote delicious, coloful solos everywhere. Bolero, for example, should sound as if the greatest wind players in the world are showing off, and here that's true. Tempos tend to be rather measured, as in La Valse, in order that more detail can emerge--don't expect the drunken satire that this piece can be. As for nuance and delicacy, Boulez'a only rivla in Rapsodie espagnole is Karajan's amazing recording on EMI.



Sony's sonics are so close that they x-ray the orchestra, which is just right for this ultra-detailed music. My only caution is that Boulez never cuts loose completely--Alborada del grazioso sounds too self-contained, and the Danse generale at the end of the Daphnis and Chloe Suite doesn't have the erotic frenzy Bernstein imparted. Even so, this is a terrific bargain that gives us almost all of Ravel's greatest orchestral works in stunning performances."