Ravel
French Orchestral Favourites (Chandos)
70 minutes of bon-bons beautifully played and well contrasted [RMo]
Stéphane Degout (baritone): Mélodies (Naïve)
(Déjà Review) A very appealing recital [GF]
Ginastera: String Quartet No. 1 & Piano Quintet op. 29 (cpo)
Ginastera’s impressive chamber music and well-played Ravel [SB]
Bonis & Ravel: Violin Sonatas (Evidence Classics)
A superb coupling comprising acclaimed works by Ravel and others hardly known by Bonis [MC]
Charles Munch (conductor) A Treasury of French Music (West Hill Radio Archives)
There’s something here even for those with an extensive collection of Munch’s recordings [JW]
Ravel: Orchestral Works & Operas (Naxos)
A comprehensive collection in generally good performances, but without most of the texts [SB]
Bortkiewicz, Ravel, Prokofiev: Piano Concerti (Pentatone)
A fine debut, three very different piano concertos for the left hand commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein [PRJ]
Art Nouveau: French Chamber Music Around 1900 (harmonia mundi)
An intelligent choice of music, given outstanding performances and sound [DJB]
Ravel: Chamber Works (Onyx)
Performances that the composer would have greatly admired but … [DJB]
Ravel: Piano Concertos (Naïve)
An unremarkable coupling of the Ravel concertos with some intriguing Wittgenstein fillers [PRJ]
Ibéria: Chabrier, Debussy & Ravel (Onyx)
The distinct perfumes and colours of Spain, orchestrated in France and brought to life in Liverpool [PH]
Ravel: Songs (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) Supreme collaborative insights … wonderful music too [TB]
Ravel & Poulenc: Daphnis et Chloé & Gloria (CSO Resound)
(Déjà Review) Marvelous playing, glowing sound, inspired coupling [BR]
Ravel: Orchestral Works (Naïve)
A valuable Ravel survey elegantly played, topped by a stunning Daphnis [NB]
Ravel & Fauré: String Quartets (Brilliant Classics)
An interesting pairing, somewhat let down by edgy sound engineering and excessive lingering in the Ravel [RMo]
Ravel: Orchestral Works & Song Cycles (L’Auditori)
A mixed bag of excellent orchestral works and less satisfying song cycles [RMo]
Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges & L’heure Espagnole (Deutsche Grammophon)
A sparkling pair of Ravel’s contrasting operas, justifying their status as “gramophone classics” [RMo]
Joseph Moog (piano): Belle Époque (Naïve)
A dizzying array of piano treasures in effortlessly marvellous performances [RCh]
Monteux conducts Ravel Vol. 2 (Pristine Audio)
These three works present a perfect summation of both Ravel’s and Monteux’s art, now sonically enhanced by Pristine [RMo]
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Ravel: La valse (Decca)
Mäkelä disappoints in French music [LD]
French School Pianists play French concertos (APR)
This thoroughly absorbing set shines a light on spectacular pianism and unearths welcome rarities [RCh]
French School Pianists play French concertos (APR)
A great piano tradition is celebrated in style [PH]
Elim Chan (conductor) All These Lighted Things (Alpha Classics)
A new disc from a new star in the conducting firmament, featuring new music – and a couple of old warhorses [LD]
Unpublished! Spalding and Dohnányi in Concert (Parnassus)
Albert Spalding in the sunset of his career accompanied by Dohnányi in a sonata sequence [JW]
