Search - Maurice Ravel, Charles Munch, Bso :: Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé

A second Best Daphnis

R. V. Wendel | NYC, NY United States | 08/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Munch recorded this gem with the BSO twice for RCA. Two different producers, and two different engineers. Lewis Layton who, along with Bob Fine at Mercury, set the standards for early analog stereo. They were very much the Toscanini and Stokowsky of the mixing boards. This disc is a re-release of the stereo 1955 version which in LP was only released in mono, but in a very deluxe fold-open jacket with book and illustrations by a then unknown Andy Warhol. Munch's performance is astounding in every sense, and the BSO responds brilliantly. Unfortunately, engineer Leslie Chase was basically only experimenting with stereo at this point, and used a basic "binaural" technique... that is, only 2 channels. As a result, the winds seem fuzzy and a bit diffuse at times, and the timpani also seem a bit distant. 6 years later, Munch repeated the same, exciting and sensual performance, but this time Lewis Layton had perfected true 3 channel recording in Symphony Hall, with less tape hiss, and wider dynamic range, resulting in cleaner, more defined sound, with rock steady winds and new timpanist Vic Firth knowing exactly where his solos were. The results earned RCA and Lewis Layton Grammy awards. Why RCA won't re-release this recording is beyond me, so I had to order it from JVC in Japan. Till we get the 5 star version available in THIS country, enjoy this 4 star preview."

Great great great recording

Trawicks | New York, NY | 09/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This, to me, is apex of Romanticism. A big, crazy, passionate, carnal beast created by one of the craziest composers who ever lived, recorded by one of the most explosive conductors in the world.



Ravel composed during the era of French Impressionism all the way through the jazz age, and this work is a gorgeous mixture of old-school European beauty and some very modern ideas (hence the tribal drumming). The style often reminds me of film score music from golden age of Hollywood, which isn't all that coincidental since movie composers from that era like Max Steiner and Bernard Herrman came from the same old-world romantic background as Ravel.



I was a bit excited by the note by the reviewer who said there was a more pristine recording of basically the same recording out there somewhere. I didn't really mind the tape hiss as much as the sometimes flat dynamics of the stereo. This piece switches from soft to loud faster than a Nirvana song, and deserves a mix that can keep up with it."

Impressionist and impressive

jean couture | Quebec city - Canada | 11/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Daphnis et Chloe' is a wonderful "ballet" type of work. As a musical development it was conceived after an ancient Greek pastoral drama, and has a connection with dance. Ravel's intent was "to compose a vast musical fresco, less thoughtful of archaisms than of fidelity to the Greece of my dreams." Maurice Ravel began work on the score in 1909 ; it was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev. It was premiered at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris by the celebrated Ballets Russes on June 8, 1912. Ravel considered his composition as a "symphonie choreographique".



So far, my first impression of this account of 'Daphnis et Chloe' is a positive one : This is one of the most perfect recordings i have heard. Sonically it ranks high and earns legendary status---just as the Reiner Scheherazade or the glorious Hanson/Mercury album 'The Composer And His Orchestra', among eloquent examples. "Revelatory" is the right word to sum up my mind. From a musical standpoint, there's a sort of strangeness to the work. The climate is blurred and has an appealing diaphanous tone ; it sounds like the musical equivalent to some ballet dancers in silken, delicate gestures with satin and lace floating slowly on a stage. Their wavering motions are softly irregular though, much like Ravel's light-colored scoring. In some places---mainly in Scene one, i heard bits of melodies very close to composers like Vaughan Williams or Stravinsky (think about 'On the Fen Country' or the 'Norfolk Rhapsody' for the former, and 'The Firebird' or 'L'Histoire du Soldat' for the latter). Fascinatingly, parts of Scene three sound a bit more like film music : At least, to my ears, it seems to anticipate the approaching closing act---just like the "end title" to a motion picture or spectacle. Of course, some of my remarks are subjective and your view of the work could (and---perhaps---should) be radically different.



I concur with PS Audio that Charles Munch "delivers the definitive version of this historic work." The touch, that is---the playing, is extremely delicate, with very well done elucidations of the many subtleties of the score ; shades and textures are exposed with ease and stirring precision. I'll quote Robert E. Greene in The Abso!ute Sound, issue 105 (1995) : "Daphnis and Chloe is an atmospheric work, not tiny brush strokes, but great washes of orchestral color. Of course, Ravel is nominally an Impressionist composer, but some of his orchestral works are more precision than atmosphere. [...] Daphnis and Chloe is diffuse, even indefinite much of the time, not Seurat but Monet. Ideal recordings respect such musical distinctions." The choruses have an "old-fashioned" quality to their singing that give the work a unique charm (on this recording it is led by renowned chorus director Robert Shaw). The wordless chorus bears a little something that recalls the ending of 'Neptune' in Holst's The Planets. If the tone is sort of "quaint" in its fashion, then it also appears to be decidedly ingenious and has great communicative powers : The contrasts, from languid melodies to brusque outbursts, are finely outlined with depth and weight---providing a sense of authenticity in respect to the mythic tale.



According to Paul Seydor (AV Guide), "this Daphnis and Chloe from the infancy of stereo [is] a classic : A great performance, full of fire and fury, tempered by poetry and soaring lyricism. Dynamic range is surprisingly good ; super-wide soundstage, but -typical of the exaggerated spread of early stereo- winds sometimes seem only vaguely centered. Still, the perspective is pleasingly distant." Years ago, i purchased the CD of the Monteux, which i sold soon after : For some reasons, i didn't like the Monteux/LSO (on Decca) and found it deceptively blunt and almost lifeless by the side of Munch's RCA recording. However, i admit that Monteux had his momentum and, perhaps, should i consider his version outside any comparative pattern. Again, my assertion vis-a-vis Monteux is subjective (one of my favorite Berlioz 'Fantastiques' is from Monteux, though). The Dutoit recording in Montreal (for Decca) is not competitive, in my opinion, and lacks the incandescent fervor that the 1955 Munch portrays so vividly. The Decca version by Suisse Romande and Ansermet is delightful and still counts among the best, next to Munch and, possibly, Boulez (also excellent in every way). The Viennese Maazel (on RCA) from 1996, although performed without choruses, is also very good, as does an arresting account from Schwarz on Delos. And there are the likes of Previn (EMI) and Levi (Telarc) that should warrant investigation.



The Boston Symphony gathers great, authentic Ravelian sounds ; this is major stuff of course, championed by Munch. It has heartfelt, ethereal beauty, with atmospheric warmth---the hedonist in Daphnis is sublimely Dionysian. Conclusively, no one outdoes---nor, let alone, equal---this phenomenal chapter in recording history. / ***** /"