L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: J'ai pas envie de faire ma page
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Bébé a été sage ?
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Ça m'est égal !
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Votre serviteur humble, Bergère
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Ding, ding, ding, ding
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: How's your mug?
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Keng-ça-fou Mah-jong
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Oh ! Ma belle tasse chinoise
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Arrière ! Je rechauffe les bons
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Adieu ! pastourelles
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Ah c'est Elle ! C'est Elle !
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Toi, la coeur de la rose
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Deux robinets coulent dans un reservoir!
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Oh ! ma tête !
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Duo miaulé
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Musique d'insectes, de rainettes, etc.
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Ah ! quelle joi de te retrouver, Jardin !
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Oh es-tu ? Je te recherche...
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Ronde des chauves souris: Rends-la moi,... tsk tsk
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Danse des rainettes
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Sauve-toi, sotte ! Et la cage ? La cage ?
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: La cage, c'était pour mieux voir ta prestesse
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Ah ! C'est l'Enfant au couteau !
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Il a pansé la plaie
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges: Il est bon, l'Enfant, il est sage
Ma Mère L'Oye: Prélude: Très lent
Ma Mère L'Oye: 1. Danse du rouet et Scène
Ma Mère L'Oye: 2. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant
Ma Mère L'Oye: 3. Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête
Ma Mère L'Oye: 4. Petit Poucet
Ma Mère L'Oye: 5. Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes
Ma Mère L'Oye: 6. Apothéose - Le Jardin féerique.
Don't be fooled by this disc's cartoonish cover. With its libretto by Colette and music by Ravel at his witty, jazzy peak,L'Enfant et les Sortilèges is hardly kiddie stuff, even if it is about a wicked child who has a... more »n epiphany when the inanimate objects he abuses begin talking back. It's an ideal CD opera, since it demands a fantastical staging that's best left to the imagination, and this new recording is among the best available. Surely, it's sassier, broader, and funnier than Previn's well-received previous recording; since making that recording, the conductor revitalized his jazz career and it shows in the new performance, which also has some sterling vocalism in three different roles by the woefully underrecorded soprano Elizabeth Futral. Also, the engineering has superb depth of field, revealing numerous, often unheard details in Ravel's most multifaceted score. Its main competition is also on Deutsche Grammophon: Lorin Maazel's scintillating, well-sung recording in a two-disc, midpriced set that contains Ravel's other opera, L'Heure Espagnole. It's a good deal, but those who only want L'Enfant can pay less money overall and also get Previn's good-but-not-great Ma Mère l'Oye (a similarly playful twist on children's literature). --David Patrick Stearns« less
Don't be fooled by this disc's cartoonish cover. With its libretto by Colette and music by Ravel at his witty, jazzy peak,L'Enfant et les Sortilèges is hardly kiddie stuff, even if it is about a wicked child who has an epiphany when the inanimate objects he abuses begin talking back. It's an ideal CD opera, since it demands a fantastical staging that's best left to the imagination, and this new recording is among the best available. Surely, it's sassier, broader, and funnier than Previn's well-received previous recording; since making that recording, the conductor revitalized his jazz career and it shows in the new performance, which also has some sterling vocalism in three different roles by the woefully underrecorded soprano Elizabeth Futral. Also, the engineering has superb depth of field, revealing numerous, often unheard details in Ravel's most multifaceted score. Its main competition is also on Deutsche Grammophon: Lorin Maazel's scintillating, well-sung recording in a two-disc, midpriced set that contains Ravel's other opera, L'Heure Espagnole. It's a good deal, but those who only want L'Enfant can pay less money overall and also get Previn's good-but-not-great Ma Mère l'Oye (a similarly playful twist on children's literature). --David Patrick Stearns
CD Reviews
Excellent
09/18/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I know L'enfant... almost as well as I know my name, and I don't even speak French. When compared to the many versions that I already have, it ranks second only to the version I remember from my childhood. Pairing L'enfant et les Sortileges with the Mother Goose Ballet was inspired. This CD would provide a wonderful introduction to opera and classical music in general to the young and those who are untested in classical music. There is one fault. I hate the cover art. I like Chuck Jones, He has made some great cartoons and created some memorable illustations however this misses target completely. It is as if he only listened to a small part of the opera and hastily threw something together to meet a deadline. None of the magic has been conveyed. There is so much more that could have been done. This may seem like a trifle to most but being a fanatic about L'enfant et les Sortiles as well as a graphic designer this was a disappointment. Apart from that The recording was great as was the performance. Very enjoyable"
Musical magic
F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 09/11/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"At long last there is a set of the two Ravel operas that will be a welcome addition to any collection of French music, Ravel's works, opera, whatever sub-category you can name. Both are on Deutsche Grammophon label, both feature the London Symphony Orchestra under Andre Previn, and both have covers by cartoonist Chuck Jones that belie the value of what lies within. in the expanded orchestral version suffers by comparison with most competitive recordings; but thematically the producers could not have chosen a better companion piece. The second work, < L'Heure Espagnole> (457 590-2) begins very promisingly with the ticking of clocks. And indeed the plot is really quite funny what with grandfather clocks being carried up and down a flight of stairs, with and without amorous wooers hidden inside them. At first hearing, I planned to write how Chaucerian the whole thing was until I found the characters summing the whole thing up with a reference to Boccaccio! The problem on a recording is that the music follows French speaking patterns and there is simply not that much musically that will encourage repeated hearings. But I do urge local vocal groups to get a good English translation and do a staged production of this work as part of an evening's concert. It will be "a regular riot" as Jackie Gleason used to say. Again, the that fills out the CD has been far better treated on other recordings."
Ravel - meet Verdi?
David Laub | Skokie, IL USA | 09/27/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is NOT a review of the recording - it is a review of the booklet accompanying the CD - nearly every other page of the booklet is the libretto of Verdi's "Falstaff" - which means a good chunk of the program notes for the Ravel are NOT included!"
Sorry but Mr PREVIN is quite off the tracks
Flying Dutchman | Paris, FRANCE | 03/25/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"He has a beethovenian approach of the score which is quite a contradiction. Broad tempos, large orchestra, big sound.
Everything is technically perfect but we are very far from RAVEL. In addition, the french diction of the singers is very poor.
What a difference with his EMI recording of the 80's which is a real gem.
The reference is obviously Ansermet but let's not forget BOUR (mono sound) & JORDAN (stereo sound)."
Track Listings (32) - Disc #1