Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé

Pierre Monteux conducts the LSO in classic recordings from 1959 and 1961, remastered and edited from stereo analogue tapes. In 1911 he was invited by Diaghilev to conduct his Ballet Russes and he led the premieres of 'Daphnis and Chloé', Debussy's 'Jeux', 'Petrushka' and the 'Rite of Spring', the last of which caused a notorious riot.

He became the musical director of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1961, at the age of 86, and had one of the longest musical careers exceeded perhaps only by Stokowski and Casals.

This collection brings together all the ballets by the two so-called Impressionistic composers, Ravel and Debussy, in recordings by Bernard Haitink.

Ravel’s masterpiece is the three act ballet Daphnis et Chloé, commissioned by Diaghilev, with Nijinsky dancing the lead role. Also included are La Valse, the orchestral version of Ma mère l'oye (Mother Goose) and two works inspired by Spain, Alborada del gracioso and Boléro – a work Ravel famously described as a “piece for orchestra without music”.

Debussy is represented by two masterpieces from both ends of his career: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, a turning point in the history of music that ushered in the modern harmonies of the 20th century, and converted into a sensational ballet by Nijinsky (L'après-midi d'un faune); Jeux was the composer’s last orchestral work and premiered just two weeks before The Rite of Spring.

Simon Rattle, now head of the Berlin Philharmonic, also produced some acclaimed records with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Ravel's "Boléro" and "Daphnis et Chloé" show him to be a true wizard of the rostrum who conjures up every facet of these colourful scores.

Maurice Ravel, a notorious perfectionist, considered his 1912 ballet score Daphnis et Chloé his most important work, describing it as a ‘choreographic symphony’. Based on a pastoral drama by the Greek poet Longus, the story tells of the love between a goatherd and a shepherdess. In this live 1979 recording, Bernard Haitink conjures a sensuous and atmospheric performance from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and John Alldis Choir.

Bernard Haitink was Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967–79 and has also held

the posts of Music Director at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera; and Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is Conductor Laureate of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and continues to perform regularly with the world’s leading orchestras.

As well as his recordings with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Haitink has recorded widely with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras and the Bavarian Radio and Boston symphony orchestras. He has also recorded extensively for the LSO Live label and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Resound label.

Music for the theatre has always formed a central part of Valery Gergiev’s concert repertoire. His recent recordings have included an acclaimed performance of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet and in November LSO Live releases a new recording of Ravel’s score for the ballet Daphnis et Chloé.

Ravel was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev in 1909 to write the music for Daphnis et Chloé. Although he subsequently prepared orchestral suites of the score, the complete work is a magnificent orchestral showpiece in its own right. Ravel described it as a symphonie choréographique and it is essentially an extended tone poem. Luscious orchestral colours run throughout the work, portraying the passion of the two protagonists for each other. By contrast, Pavane pour une infante défunte, composed by Ravel whilst he was still a student of Gabriel Fauré, harks back to the simplicity of the eighteenth-century music of Rameau. Boléro, one of his final works, highlights the Spanish influences and passion that pervade so many of his works.

Gergiev and the LSO perform in London during November before touring Japan. Gergiev has concerts in Paris with the Mariinsky Orchestra in December and tours again with the LSO in January and February, visiting Germany, Belgium and the US. His forthcoming LSO Live releases include a disc featuring Debussy’s La Mer, Jeux and Prélude à l’apres midi d’un faune.

Concert Reviews:

‘a performance which carried the listener breathlessly into a dance of entirely spiritual dimensions. Both demanding and obtaining a control over his orchestra which only pianists should reasonably expect from their instruments, Gergiev has always aimed high with the LSO. With this concert, they hit the bullseye’ The Guardian

‘Gergiev must count himself fortunate in having a Rolls-Royce of an orchestra, with a well-nigh infallible energy ... the sun rose as gloriously as ever, and Gergiev leapt high as dawn swung into the final Danse générale’ The Times

‘The sultry, sensual score of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe was handled stylishly, Gergiev and the excellent LSO properly holding something in reserve for the magnificent sunrise and exhilarating coda’ The Evening Standard

1CD+DVD

This is a live recording of a performance in Luxembourg. This ballet is set in Arcadian Greece and has been described as a masterpiece by many including Stravinsky who declared it to be “one of the most beautiful products of French Music”.

The Ballet Edition is a series of 2 CD sets drawn from the catalogues of EMI Classics, presenting the best-loved and most popular ballets, performed by the world’s leading orchestras and conductors.

Recorded between October 1951 and June 1953, these mono recordings have been much prized and sought-after by collectors and now reappear on CD at super-budget price. Ravel and Ansermet were well acquainted and that adds a special authenticity to these sublime readings. Presenting the majority of Ravel's orchestral music (Bolero and La Valse appear on another Ansermet Ravel anthology). His 1952 reading of Daphnis et Chloe, highly praised in a recent Gramophone survey of the work, once again becomes available. Ansermet biographer Francois Hudry contributes to the liner notes for this release. In his words: '[Ansermet] had a real affinity with Ravel, and his performances have the value of authentic interpretations. Listening to these beautiful mono recordings allows us to appreciate Ansermet's special sound: of course, there is his concern for clarity and rhythmic impulse, but also those qualities which he always thought to lack; tenderness and a sense of poetry, as if his intellectual approach should have been at the expense of his artistic sensitivity. These recordings, unobtainable for several years, show us Ansermet in the prime of life, conducting an orchestra built for French music; here the timbres, acid and emotional at the same time, are in perfect harmony with Ravel's musical language. [...]. Ansermet never forgot that this music was written for dance. His interpretations are not flashy: on the contrary, they are full of intelligence, respect and sensitivity to the score.