A diaphanous knock-out!
Starry Vere | Silver Lake OH USA | 02/10/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was very curious how Gielen, a composer and modern music specialist, would handle Daphnis. Well, there is that quality, often attributed to Boulez, of x-ray vision revealing hidden textures in dense music, but unlike Boulez' recent marmoreal effort, this performance also attains lightness and takes flight. This Daphnis is a lean, clean, dancing machine. Oh, and a singing one, too, as the EuropaChorAkademie offers the clearest and most alert rendition of the dificult and vital choral parts I've heard yet. The German Southwest Radio Orchestra, once the band of Rosbaud and Bour, has a great tradition with both modern and French music and they sound quite idiomatic here, with a cast of characterful featured soloists. A contender at any price."
A clear-eyed Daphnis et Chooe without swoons or simpering
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/08/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I second with a smile the previous reviewer's description of Gielen's complete Daphnis et Chloe as a "lean, clean, dancing machine," with one reservation. This performance isn't mechanical -- it's light-hearted and down to earth at the same time. It helps to forget performance tradition, as Gielen does here. Ravel too often simpers and swoons; there's excessive attention to detail for its own sake and a tendency to act as if so Parisian a sensibility couldn't be natural, too. Gielen plays the score as an exciting, extraverted dance without the perfume of nuance.
That's not the only way to conduct Ravel, but it comes as a relief to me. One feels Ravel's kinship with sharp-edged modernism and even, perhaps,, with Stravinsky in his own Parisian moods (e.g., 'Baiser de la Fee' and 'Persephone'). Another asset here is the very clear, detailed sound from 1997, not to mention the enthusiastic playing of the SWR SO of Baden-Baden, who clearly have total faith in their veteran conductor.
At super-budget price, I doubt that Gielen's clear-eyed Daphnis has any rivals."
Daphnis and Chloe: Maurice Ravel's 20th Century Sensual Mast
Second Hearing | Massachusetts | 06/24/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Besides being a major 20th century composer, Maurice Ravel was also a master orchestrator, arranger of his own works as well as other's (Mussorgsky, Debussy and others). Ravel's complete ballet music, Daphnis Et Chloe, for orchestra and chorus, is one of the most sensual masterpieces of the 20th century or any other century. It was premiered in 1912 for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes in Paris. Stravinsky is quoted in the notes to this album calling Ravel's work "one of the loveliest products of French music in its entirety".
Conductor Michael Gielen, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the EuropaChorAkademie, and the label Arte Nova have combined forces to bring all the orchestral colors and passionate expression to life in stunning performances and sound that is clear, rich, and understandable. What they have produced is the benchmark recording of Ravel's masterpiece. At any price this would stand as a benchmark performance.
As it is Arte Nova cds are inexpensive and affordable. Inexpensive does not mean cheap or that it was a dash off. No, utmost care has taken place here.
Those seeking a complete version of Daphnis et Chloe need not look further. Classic performances by Pierre Monteux are still available and I remember a stellar performance of Leonard Bernstein's with the New York Philharmonic. It's simply that overall performance here is markedly better and in richer multicolored sound.
Most know Ravel's Daphnis in the 2 Suites he derived from the full ballet. Since Ravel was a master orchestrator his suites are most enjoyable and give a flavor of the whole. But to hear the piece with its dramatic ebbs and flows, surges and climaxes is a rare, transcendent experience. To see the ballet live with chorus and orchestra would be remarkable. Large forces are called upon here. This recording will have to suffice.
In fact this Daphnis should hold an honored position in any personal orchestral collection. Get this while it's still available!
Highest recommendation!
"Second Hearing: because once is just not enough!""
Track Listings (1) - Disc #1