Andre Cluytens – Ravel: Complete Orchestral Works (180g 4LP)

Ravel Orchestral Works – Paris Conservatoire Orchestra – Andre Cluytens / Daphnis et Chloe (with Rene Duclos Choir), Rapsodie Espagnole, La Valse, Ma Mere L’Oye, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Menuet Antique, Alborada del Gracioso, Une Barque Sur L’Ocean, Pavane
These four recordings, by the greatest orchestrator who ever lived, have been prized by collectors for many years; in fact, since long before the advent of the audiophile market. In their variety of color and texture – from the sumptuous, dramatic Daphnis et Chloe ballet to the sultry rhythms of the Rapsody Espagnole and the cool elegance of Le Tombeau de Couperin – Ravel’s orchestral works are ideally scored to show off high fidelity sound, and Columbia’s recording engineers in Paris captured every nuance of his music to perfection in the 1962 sessions. The Paris Conservatoire Orchestra of that time was the perfect ensemble for French repertoire, and still produced the authentic French sound which Ravel will have heard in his mind when scoring the music. Andre Cluytens had been the Orchestra’s chief conductor for over a decade, and he was known as a master interpreter of French romantic music.