Debussy & Ravel Orchestral Works (Jean Martinon)

Debussy & Ravel Orchestral Works (Jean Martinon)
FLAC+Cue+Log | Scans | 8 CDs | 2.35 GB
Classical | EMI Classics | 1973-74

At long last, Jean Martinon's classic EMI Debussy and Ravel cycles from the 1970s have been gathered in a space-saving, budget-priced box set. If you love this repertoire, you'll gasp with joy at the conductor's crystal-clear orchestral balances, which truly reproduce what you see in the printed music. If you respond to a lean, sinewy approach to this repertoire in the manner of Toscanini and Boulez, but pine for the timbral characteristics that used to distinguish French orchestras (silver-coated strings, tart woodwinds, and slightly watery brass) in gorgeous, vibrant sonics, Martinon's your man. Aldo Ciccolini's crisp, diamond-edged finger work stands out in Ravel's two piano concertos and in Debussy's rarely heard Fantasie. The young Itzhak Perlman's dazzling, effortless traversal of Ravel's Tzigane will humble many an aspiring fiddler. And you won't find a more sparkling, translucent Ravel Mother Goose Suite on record. Martinon was a marvel, and a sadly underrated podium giant. Grab this set while you can.

Jed Distler

DEBUSSY and RAVEL
Orchestral Works conducted by Jean MARTINON
The Classic EMI Recordings from the Salle Wagram, Paris, 1973 and 1974
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)

CD1
La Mer (1904) [24.26]
Nocturnes (1900) [22.32]
Prélude à l’Après-Midi d’un Faune (1894) [10.29] Marche écossaise (1891) [6.23]
Berceuse héroïque (1914) [4.47]
Musiques pour le Roi Lear (1904) [4.58]

CD2
Jeux (1912) [18.15]
Images (1905) [32.23]
Printemps (1882) [16.00] (orch Henri BÜSSER)

CD3
Children’s Corner (1908) [18.18] (orch André CAPLET)
Petite Suite (1888) [13.33] (orch Henri BÜSSER)
Danse sacrée et danse profane (1903) [9.15]
La Boîte à joujoux (1913) [31.40] (orch André CAPLET)

CD4
Fantaisie pour piano et orchestra (1890) [23.53] (ed. André JOUVE)
La plus que lente (1910) [6.00]
Première Rapsodie pour orchestre avec clarinette principale (1903) [8.11]
Rapsodie pour orchestre et saxophone solo (1905) [10.02]
Khamma (1912) [20.24] (orch Charles KOECHLIN)
Danse: Tarantelle styrienne (1905) [5.44] (orch Maurice RAVEL)
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)

CD5
Boléro (1928) [14.56]
Une Barque sur l’océan (1905) [7.18]
Ma Mère l’Oye (1908) [36.44]
Alborada del gracioso (1905) [7.53]
Rapsodie espagnole (1907) [16.06]

CD6
Shéhérazade: Ouverture de féerie (1903) [13.47]
La Valse (1920) [12.35]
Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917) [17.56]
Menuet antique (1909) [6.19]
Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899) [6.32]
Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911) [16.35]

CD7
Daphnis et Chloé (1912) [56.25]

CD8
Concerto for the Left-Hand (1931) [18.26]
Piano Concerto in G major (1931) [23.32]
Tzigane (1924) [9.53]
Aldo Ciccolini (piano)
Itzhak Perlman (violin) (Tzigane)
Marie-Claire Jamet (harp) (Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane)
Guy Dangain (clarinet)
Jean-Marie Loneix (saxophone)
Jean-Claude Malgloire (cor anglais) (G major piano concerto)
Alain Marion (flute) (Faune)
Michel Sedrez, Fabienne Boury (piano duet) (Printemps)
Jules Goetgheluck (oboe) (Children’s Corner)
John Leach (cimbalom) (La plus)
Fabienne Boury (piano) (Khamma)
Marcel Gallègue (trombone) (Boléro)
André Sennedat (bassoon) (Alborada)
Michel Garcin-Marrou (horn) (Pavane)
Choeurs de l’ORTF
Choeurs du Théâtre National de l’Opéra
Orchestre National de l’ORTF/Jean Martinon (Debussy)
Orchestre de Paris/Jean Martinon (Ravel)
Rec Paris 1973-74 DDD
EMI CLASSICS CZS 5 75526 2 [8CDs: 73.35+69.39+72.24+74.14+75.36+74.28+56.25+52.04]