Composer: Maurice Ravel
Orchestra: Sinfonia of London
Conductor: John Wilson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHSA 5280
Release: 2022
Size: 1.33 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. La Valse
Ma Mère l’Oye
02. I. Prelude
03. II. Premier Tableau
04. III. Deuxième Tableau
05. IV. Troisième Tableau
06. V. Quatrième Tableau
07. VI. Cinquième Tableau
08. VII. Apothéose
09. Alborada del gracioso (orchestral version)
10. Pavane pour une infante défunte
Valses nobles et sentimentales
11. I. Modéré
12. II. Assez lent
13. III. Modéré
14. IV. Assez animé
15. V. Presque lent
16. VI. Assez vif
17. VII. Moins vif – Un peu retenu
18. VIII. Épilogue
19. Boléro
Following their second BBC Music Magazine Award (for Respighi’s “Roman Trilogy”) and universal praise for their first concert (at the BBC Proms in 2021), Sinfonia of London and John Wilson turn to the orchestral works of Ravel for this their sixth studio album. Not only one of France’s greatest composers, Maurice Ravel is acclaimed as one of the greatest orchestrators of all time. His unique ability to conjure the widest possible range of colours and textures from the orchestral palette is amply demonstrated on this album.
The programme opens with La Valse, conceived as a snapshot of 1850s Vienna. The continuous sequence of waltzes becomes increasingly insistent until the sound is almost utterly overwhelming. Other ballets also feature – Ma Mère l’Oye and the notorious Boléro, both recorded here for the first time in their complete original versions. Ravel’s orchestrations of his own piano works complete the programme: Valses nobles et sentimentales, Pavane pour une infante défunte, and Alborada del gracioso, which demonstrates both Ravel’s fascination with Spanish sounds and culture and the sheer virtuosity of orchestral playing of Sinfonia of London.