Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé - Harmonia Mundi: HMM905280 - CD or download

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, More…

Release Date: 31st Mar 2017
Catalogue No: HMM905280
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 54 minutes

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Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57, Acte I, Première partie

28:31

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Introduction

3:09

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Danse religieuse

5:15

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Vif - Danse générale

3:10

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Show 8 remaining tracks for Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57, Acte I, Première partie

Danse grotesque de Dorcon - Scène

1:51

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Danse légère et gracieuse de Daphnis

2:54

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Lent [devant le groupe radieux que forment Daphnis et Chloé enlacés]

1:42

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Danse de Lycéion

1:30

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Scène [Les Pirates]

1:46

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Nocturne [Une lumière irréelle enveloppe le paysage]

1:32

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Danse lente et mystérieuse des Nymphes

2:47

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Interlude

2:55

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Hide 8 tracks for Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57, Acte I, Première partie

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57, Acte I, Deuxième partie

10:27

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Introduction - Danse guerrière

4:31

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Danse suppliante de Chloé

3:37

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Lent [Soudain l'atmosphère semble chargée d'éléments insolites]

2:19

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Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57, Acte I, Troisième partie

15:51

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Lever du jour - Scène

5:38

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Pantomime [Daphnis & Chloé miment l'aventure de Pan et de Syrinx]

1:20

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Très lent [Chloé figure par sa danse les accents de la flûte]

2:34

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Chloé tombe dans les bras de Daphnis

2:19

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Animé - Danse générale

4:00

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'Daphnis and Chloé' is conceived as a ballet in one act and three parts, and tells the story of the love between the shepherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé. A warlike tableau is framed by two pastoral ones: in the first, Daphnis and Chloé acknowledge their mutual love following a dance contest that provokes the jealousy of each of them in turn.

The interruption of a group of pirates, who abduct Chloé, puts an end to the rejoicing. The second tableau depicts the pirate camp; the captive girl is commanded to dance for her abductors. In the final tableau, Chloé is restored to Daphnis through a miracle of the god Pan, whom the nymphs have called on for help. After miming the tale of Pan and Syrinx, the young lovers let their joy burst forth in a General Dance of dazzling orgiastic virtuosity.

The orchestral forces are the largest Ravel ever employed and he adds a mixed chorus that sometimes hums and sometimes sings. As we have come to expect, François-Xavier Roth, in his début for harmonia mundi, has gone through Ravel's much-amended score with a fine-tooth comb and subsequently showed himself capable, in a ‘historically informed’ performance, of reproducing with the musicians of Les Siècles all the transparency and stylistic precision one could wish for in Ravel’s masterpiece.

"Daphnis et Chloé is part of the large-scale project we embarked on with Les Siècles in 2009: the odyssey of the Ballets Russes. To celebrate the centenary of that incredible artistic adventure, we wanted to reconstruct the Parisian orchestra that premiered these works in order to restore their original colours...As with each work of the Ballets Russes that we’ve played so far, we noticed just how remarkably the instruments of Ravel’s time, those French-built instruments typical of the early twentieth century, do justice to this music and make it meaningful!" FXR [from the booklet essay]

Reviews

July 2017

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 of which Ravel himself complained about; splendidly rude bassoons for Dorcon’s clumsy dance; and beautiful flute playing from Marion Ralincourt

June 2017

Les Siècles’ French-built woodwind and brass instruments from the early 20th century...provide greater tonal sweetness, especially the Selmer trumpets, which don’t dominate textures as much as the incisive LSO brass. Lean gut strings achieve feathery lightness... With fine choral contributions from the Ensemble Aedes, this new recording is highly recommended.

April 2017

I must confess that I han't fully appreciated just how much the sonorities of early twentieth-century instruments differ from their modern counterparts until I gave this recording a whirl; the veiled, soft-grained sonorities bring out all the hazy sensuality of Ravel's score.

6th April 2017

With the strings playing on gut and wind instruments from the early years of the 20th century (all detailed in the sleeve notes), the sound is fabulously transparent; every detail of the woodwind and brass articulation, so minutely specified by Ravel, is clear.

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