Browse: Presto Recordings of the Year, Ravel (composer)

Orchestral players will travel long distances to make music with [Wilson] and this recording shows why…It’s far from being all noise, the woodwind in particular being exquisitely agile…All the... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2020, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Steeped in the French piano tradition and with formidable facility, Bertrand Chamayou is certainly not tripped up by the finger-bending virtuosity of Miroirs or Gaspard, while conveying the cut-glass... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2016, 3 out of 5 stars More…

I find Rana nothing less than spectacular. Like Argerich, her volatility grips your attention, and it is coupled with musicianship of a high order. [La Valse] Rana is at her very best here, exhibiting... — Fanfare, March/April 2020 More…

There are some excellent things on this disc: full rein given to the ballet’s explosive side, often underplayed; as part of that, the wide range observed in crescendo markings, the underplaying... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2017, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Roth certainly foregrounds each work’s grotesque qualities. The slithering string portamento in ‘Gnomus’ is striking…Roth has taken some pains to perform a version of Pictures faithful to Ravel’s... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2020, 3 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

The instruments gathered by Les Siècles bring a delicious transparency, so that there is both greater distinctiveness in the instrumental colours and a more satisfying blend than tends to be... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2018, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Devieilhe has the ideal voice for the Ariettes oubliées, with a creamily dreamy opening to ‘C’est l’extase’. Her iridescent clarity is to the fore throughout...matched by Alexandre Tharaud’s... — BBC Music Magazine More…

How can one resist the combination of Marianne Crebassa’s attractive voice and a selection of French song, especially Debussy’s Chansons de Bilitis and three Veraline songs? As for Ravel’s Shéhérazade,... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2018, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Full of colour, both Osborne’s poetry and his exceptional touch are to the fore, the sparkling cascades in the final movement being especially breathtaking…strong performances of a programme... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2017, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Playing of such consummate ease combined with involvement and attention to detail...Simply, this is one of the finest, most musically sensitive recordings to have come my way for some time, and... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2018, 5 out of 5 stars More…