RAVEL All the Works for Orchestra SKROWACZEWSKI 4 lp Vox Box QSVBX-5133 (M-)

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RAVEL All the Works for Orchestra SKROWACZEWSKI 4 lp Vox Box QSVBX-5133

Tracklist

A1 Fanfare For The Ballet "L'Éventail De Jeanne" Choir – The St. Olaf ChoirChorus Master – Kenneth Jennings 1:45 Daphnis Et Chloé: Suite No. 1 Choir – The St. Olaf ChoirChorus Master – Kenneth Jennings (12:45) A1 Nocturne A2 Interlude A3 Danse Guerrière B1 Interlude Daphnis Et Chloé: Interlude; Suite No. 2 Choir – The St. Olaf ChoirChorus Master – Kenneth Jennings (18:03) B2 Lever Du Jour B3 Pantomime B4 Danse Générale C1 Bolero 17:19 C2 Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte 6:56 D1 La Valse, Poème Choréographique 12:24 D2 Alborada Del Gracioso (No. 4 of Miroirs) 8:05 Ma Mère L'oye (Complete Ballet) (30:00) E1 Prélude E2 Danse Du Rouet Et Scène E3 Pavane De La Belle Au Bois Dormant E4 Interlude E5 Les Entretiens De La Belle Et De La Bête E6 Interlude E7 Petit Poucet E8 Interlude E9 Laideronnette, Imperatrice Des Pagodes F1 Interlude F2 Apothéose: Le Jardin Féérique F3 Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales 18:00 Le Tombeau De Couperin (18:51) F4 Prélude F5 Forlane F6 Menuet F7 Rigaudon F8 Une Barque Sur L'Océan (No. 3 Ff Miroirs) Oboe – Rhadames Angelucci 7:48 Rapsodie Espagnole (16:15) H1 Prélude À La Nuit H2 Malagueña H3 Habanera H4 Feria H5 Menuet Antique English Horn – Ferald B. Capps 7:42

*(all photos are of the actual item)

• Artwork – Renoir
• Composed By – Ravel
• Conductor – Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
• Orchestra – Minnesota Orchestra

     This is a record that The Absolute Sound has been talking about since some of their first issues. Recorded by Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz. Maestro Skrowaczewski was still conducting and composing beyond his 90th birthday, and his symphonic recordings are notable.
      Here is an unusually fine version of the famous Bolero, played as the composer intended at a constant stately tempo. The orchestral playing is colorful and varied without any of the customary over exuberance or acceleration toward the end. The music is exciting enough when played with such sensitivity to weight, color, shape and rhythm!
     Polish composer/conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski became Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra (then the Minneapolis Symphony) in 1960 at the age of 37, just two years after his North American debut with the Cleveland Orchestra. He held the position until 1979, when he left to concentrate on composition.
     Skrowaczewski brings a sensuous touch to the Pavane, with gentle horn playing and wonderfully relaxed phrasing that shapes the piece and never drags or descends into schmaltz. He clearly has a sympathetic connection to Ravel, clearly understanding the composer’s intentions and inspiring his orchestra to realize his vision.
     The Rapsodie Espagnole, with its muted strings and delicate colors, emerges as a work of great integrity, demonstrating the conductor’s subtle command of the orchestra.  But the most impressive performance here is  of the technically difficult La Valse. The extraordinarily complex orchestration demands the clear bass resolution and layering of low-level detail .... The atmospherics, swirls of energy and hints of danger and passion come through beautifully in this gutsy performance. The orchestra plays as one man under Skrowaczewski's baton ....