Legendary Ravel
Ralph Lara | Miami Shores, FL USA | 08/03/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Ozawa's 1970s Ravel set with the Boston Symphony for Deutsche Grammophon is one of the best things he has ever done. His meticulous, somewhat cool and perfectly polished approach is ideal for Ravel's unique, amazingly orchestrated brand of impressionism and the recorded sound is still most impressive. Don't let the word "cool" mislead you; when the music calls for it Ozawa does whip up quite a frenzy. His recording of Daphnis and Chloé, in particular, is one of the best I have ever heard, and I have heard dozens. The final Bacchanale is breathtaking in its savagely erotic intensity and the recorded sound will knock you out of your chair. The hair-raising reading of La Valse is also quite spectacular, perfectly capturing the wild contrasts of dreamlike romanticism and brutal, relentless insanity in this apocalyptic little ballet.
As far as I know, the complete collection is only available right now as three individual Australian import CDs and I have only found them in stock at Amazon.com. There's also another 2-cd set in the Deutsche Grammophon catalogue but it's missing several of the works. The complete works take 3 full CDs and, believe me, you'll want the whole thing. It's a pity that at the time Ozawa didn't choose to record the two piano concertos as well. Nevertheless, I'm not complaining; it's great to have these classic recordings reissued, especially when they have been so impressively and lovingly remastered (I remember even the original LPs as being of demonstration quality). Get them before they dissapear again."