MONTEUX conducts Ravel, Vol. 2 (stereo, 1959/61) - PASC744

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overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fRAVEL Daphnis et ChloéRAVEL Rapsodie espagnoleRAVEL Pavane pour une infante défunteStereo studio recordings, 1959 & 1961Total duration: 73:5 8Royal Opera House ChorusLondon Symphony Orchestraconducted by Pierre Monteux578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFanfare Review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fThis is special - both Pristine volumes are essential purchases578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fThis is special: Pierre Monteux’s 1959 recording of Daphnis et Chloé , whose classic status few listeners would dispute, sympathetically remastered by Pristine Classical to very good effect. Monteux of course had conducted the very first performance of Daphnis in Paris in June 1912 during Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes season at the Theâtre du Châtelet. Nearly 47 years later in a conversation with Decca Producer John Culshaw, Monteux said how much he would like to record the complete score. A delicate situation ensued. At the time, Decca was party to a commercial partnership with RCA whereby Decca recorded in Europe on RCA’s behalf. Monteux was an RCA artist, but his records didn’t sell as well as the label’s other famous conductors. Decca too became nervous about the commercial prospects of a complete Daphnis with Monteux at the helm, and executives told Culshaw that the project could only proceed on the basis that the performance was squeezed onto a single LP. This stipulation amounted to a considerable technical challenge for the recording team. The score is characterized by its colorful textures and dynamic range, and Culshaw was understandably unwilling to compress the sound. Instead, because of his team’s dedication and its skill in the dubbing process, it was possible to fit the recording on to a single LP without compromise.The great Deryck Cooke greeted the recording as “ravishing” when it was released in late 1959 and that’s still the word one first reaches for over 65 years later. At nearly 52 minutes this remains one of the faster performances in the catalog, but that isn’t a result of impulsiveness on Monteux’s part. Instead, he pretty faithfully follows Ravel’s metronome markings and tempo directions throughout and forgoes the interpretative extremes that beset so many performances. You might be slightly surprised at his steady approach to the final Bacchanale, for example, but it absolutely works in the context of this performance and the gains in clarity are remarkable when set against the blurring of important detail which can occur at more hectic speeds. Similarly, the famous “Lever du jour” at the start of the final Tableau is rendered with lovely color and superb pacing, but not to the extent that its climax makes everything which follows bathetic. Interestingly Culshaw drew an approving comparison with how Monteux approached “Lever du jour” to his later recording of Elgar’s Enigma Variations , where again the conductor refused to allow “Nimrod” to eclipse the work’s finale. The LSO plays superbly for Monteux throughout the ballet and he conjures from it some wonderfully idiomatic playing. It’s little wonder that the orchestra was happy to make Monteux its principal conductor two years later, acceding to his demand for a 25-year contract at the age of 86. The Royal Opera House Chorus is also spectacularly good, singing with excellent articulation and dynamic range and perfectly achieving the very distinct and mystical blended timbre Ravel pioneered.Culshaw’s recorded sound here was a benchmark for its time and still stands up very well today without any retouching. Andrew Rose for Pristine has used his XR remastering technique pretty subtly here, I would say. To my ears the most notable change is a little bit more space and airiness to the sound, most welcome.Pristine has also included Monteux’s 1961 LSO recordings of the Pavane pour une infante défunte and Rapsodie espagnole . The former is the most delicately melancholic reading imaginable, and the LSO plays it with a sustained elegance, which has an almost antique edge to it, very lovely. The Rapsodie in contrast is appropriately vibrant, exuberant at times, always beautifully shaped and with a pervading sensuousness. Again, it’s easy to see how these later Ravel recordings have also acquired classic status. They sound even fresher after Pristine’s fine-drawn enhancements.This is Volume 2 of Pristine’s “Monteux conducts Ravel” mini-series. I reviewed Vol 1 in Fanfare 49:1. This was a live concert from Carnegie Hall in March 1959, also featuring the Rapsodie espagnole and the Daphnis Suites 1 and 2. Having listened again, I still think there is a definite frisson in the live performances which makes them treasurable. There’s no question, though, that the remastered Decca recorded sound on Volume 2 wins hands down, as does the playing of the LSO, and of course it’s fantastic to have the whole ballet. So, unhelpfully for your wallets, I still think both Pristine volumes are essential purchases.Dominic HartleyFanfare578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples/PASC744.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fMaurice Ravel and Pierre Monteux: Architects of French SoundMaurice Ravel and Pierre Monteux were born in 1875, and though their lives rarely intersected intimately, they were bound by a shared devotion to precision, poise, and the search for orchestral colour without sentimentality. While Ravel was famously private and exacting, Monteux was genial and unshakeable—but the musical results they achieved together, especially through Monteux’s interpretations, reveal a profound kinship.Monteux was not part of Ravel’s close artistic circle—Ravel gravitated more toward pianists like Ricardo Viñes or the conductor-designer Alexis Roland-Manuel—but Monteux was one of the few conductors Ravel respected. Their most famous direct collaboration came in 1912, when Monteux conducted the premiere of Daphnis et Chloé with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. It was a challenging production: the choreography by Michel Fokine was demanding, and the massive orchestral forces—plus chorus—presented formidable difficulties. Yet Monteux’s steady hand brought coherence to the performance. While it was eclipsed at the time by the scandal of Nijinsky’s dancing and Stravinsky’s looming Sacre, Daphnis soon emerged as one of Ravel’s masterpieces.Decades later, Monteux would return to this vast score in one of the crowning achievements of his recorded legacy. In 1959, with the London Symphony Orchestra and chorus, Monteux recorded the complete Daphnis et Chloé for Decca—a landmark version. At 84 years old, Monteux led the orchestra with the energy and precision of a man half his age. The recording captures every shimmer and swell of Ravel’s writing with breathtaking transparency. The famous "Lever du jour" (Daybreak) is rendered not as a lush wash, but as a delicately evolving light—each instrument clear, perfectly balanced, never overindulged.Critics and collectors often return to this version as the most idiomatic of all. Monteux, who had premiered the work nearly half a century earlier, understood that its brilliance lies not in bombast but in control. There is nothing overripe in his interpretation—just luminous textures and rhythmic poise. It's Ravel as Ravel might have heard it in his mind.Monteux had a deep affinity for the London Symphony Orchestra, and in the early 1960s their partnership entered a golden phase. In 1961, Monteux recorded two more Ravel gems with the LSO: the Pavane pour une infante défunte and Rapsodie Espagnole. Both are miniature masterclasses in restraint and colour.The Pavane, often subjected to syrupy interpretations, emerges in Monteux’s hands as a dignified lament. His tempo is deliberate but never dragging. The famous horn solo is noble, not mawkish, and the phrasing throughout is shaped with understated elegance. Monteux once said, “Ravel must never be sentimentalised—it ruins the structure.” This Pavane proves the point: it glows softly, like a faded photograph, dignified and deeply moving precisely because it refuses to plead.His Rapsodie Espagnole, recorded in the same sessions, is a model of orchestral discipline and flair. Ravel’s evocation of Spain—filtered through French elegance—is handled with just the right balance of heat and cool. Monteux lets the rhythms speak naturally: the “Prélude à la nuit” is mysterious without being heavy; the “Feria” dances with taut energy. The LSO plays magnificently, responding to Monteux’s economical yet expressive gestures. As always, he avoids exaggeration. “You must trust Ravel’s pen,” he once told a student. “It already sings. You don’t need to shout.”Monteux’s long-standing belief in Ravel’s music went beyond national pride. While he helped define the French orchestral tradition, he approached scores with a craftsman’s eye. Even as a centenarian in spirit—he signed a 25-year contract with the LSO at age 86—Monteux remained committed to clarity above all. His recorded Ravel offers no eccentricities, only the distilled essence of the music.Though Ravel and Monteux were never close personally, their paths reflect a shared philosophy. Neither was a revolutionary in the flamboyant sense. Ravel constructed his works with classical discipline and sensual restraint; Monteux conducted them with the same values. Ravel distrusted flashy interpretation. Monteux disdained conductors who drew attention to themselves. “The conductor is not the composer,” he would say, “only the servant of the score.”In that sense, Monteux may have served Ravel more faithfully than any other conductor of his generation. The 1959 Daphnis, the 1961 Pavane and Rapsodie—these recordings still stand as exemplars of how Ravel should sound: luminous, unsentimental, and exquisitely clear.As Monteux once reflected, “If the music is perfect, you don’t polish it—you just let it shine.” In letting Ravel’s music shine, he helped preserve a sound-world that still feels utterly modern today.578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fMONTEUX conducts Ravel, Volume 21. RAVEL Pavane pour une infante défunte, M. 19 (6:44)RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole, M. 542. 1. Prélude à la nuit (4:07)3. 2. Malagueña (2:15)4. 3. Habanera (2:36)5. 4. Feria (6:27)RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57Tableau I (Une prairie а la lisiére d'un bois sacré) 6. Introduction et danse religieuse (7:18)7. Danse générale (2:43)8. Danse grotesque de Dorcon (2:18)9. Danse légère et gracieuse de Daphnis (2:23)10. Danse de Lyceion (4:38)11. Danse lente et mystérieuse des Nymphes (4:40)Tableau II (Camp des pirates) 12. Introduction (2:55)13. Danse guerrière (4:06)14. Danse suppliante de Chloé (5:14)Tableau III (Paysage du première 1er tableau, а la fin de la nuit) 15. Lever du jour (5:12)16. Pantomime (Les amours de Pan et Syrinx) (5:29)17. Danse générale (Bacchanale) (4:53)Royal Opera House ChorusLondon Symphony Orchestraconducted by Pierre MonteuxXR remastering by Andrew RoseCover artwork based on photographs of Pierre Monteux and Maurice RavelTracks 1-5 recorded 11-13 November 1961Producer: Erik SmithEngineer: Kenneth WilkinsonTracks 6-17 recorded 27-28 April, 1959Producer: John CulshawEngineer: Alan ReeveRecorded in stereo at Kingsway Hall, London Total duration: 73:58578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers/thumbs/PASC744.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers/PASC744.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f Show more