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Maurice Ravel: Orchestral Works
Ma Mère l’oye, Boléro, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Alborada del gracioso & La valse
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 28th January 2022
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2022, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Winner - Spatial Audio
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2022
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2022
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Building A Library, February 2024, Recommended Recording - Ma mère l'Oye
this superbly played and sumptuously recorded disc from the Sinfonia of London and John Wilson amply demonstrates the profound benefits of trusting Ravel. Has Ma mère l’Oye ever sounded more...
Maurice Ravel: Orchestral Works
Ma Mère l’oye, Boléro, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Alborada del gracioso & La valse
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 28th January 2022
-
Gramophone Magazine, March 2022, Editor's Choice
-
Gramophone Awards, 2022, Winner - Spatial Audio
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
-
Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2022
-
Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2022
-
Building A Library, February 2024, Recommended Recording - Ma mère l'Oye
this superbly played and sumptuously recorded disc from the Sinfonia of London and John Wilson amply demonstrates the profound benefits of trusting Ravel. Has Ma mère l’Oye ever sounded more...
About
"Following their second BBC Music Magazine Award (for Respighi’s Roman Trilogy) and universal praise for their first concert (at the BBC Proms in 2021), Sinfonia of London and John Wilson turn to the orchestral works of Ravel for this their sixth studio album. Not only an outstanding pianist and one of France’s greatest composers, Maurice Ravel is acclaimed as one of the greatest orchestrators of all time. His unique ability to conjure the widest possible range of colours and textures from the orchestral palette is amply demonstrated on this album. The programme opens with La Valse, conceived as a snapshot of 1850s Vienna. The continuous sequence of waltzes becomes increasingly insistent until the sound is almost utterly overwhelming. Other ballets also feature – Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) and the notorious Boléro, both recorded here for the first time in their complete original versions. Ravel’s orchestrations of his own piano works complete the programme: Valses nobles et sentimentales, Pavane pour une infante défunte, and Alborada del gracioso, which demonstrates both Ravel’s fascination with Spanish sounds and culture and the sheer virtuosity of orchestral playing of Sinfonia of London. This album is recorded in surround-sound and released as a Hy brid SACD."
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
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John Wilson on Ravel
The British conductor talks to James about his latest album with Sinfonia of London devoted to the music of Maurice Ravel, which includes the original versions of both Ma Mère L’oye and Boléro.
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John Wilson conducts orchestral works by Ravel
The latest album from Sinfonia of London and John Wilson presents a dazzling collection of orchestral works by Ravel, including La valse and Pavane pour une infante défunte alongside premiere recordings of the original versions of Ma Mère l'Oye and Boléro.
Awards and reviews
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Presto Recording of the Week28th January 2022
-
Gramophone MagazineMarch 2022Editor's Choice
-
Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2022
-
Sunday Times10 Best Classical Albums of 2022
-
Gramophone MagazineCritics' Choice 2022
March 2022
this superbly played and sumptuously recorded disc from the Sinfonia of London and John Wilson amply demonstrates the profound benefits of trusting Ravel. Has Ma mère l’Oye ever sounded more gorgeous or affecting?...Throughout, innumerable exquisite details catch the ear.
March 2022
What really shines here is the illumination of so many colouristic permutations, sounding for all the world as if Ravel had just in this moment heard them.
28th January 2022
It is the quality of the quiet string playing that elevates this album...for me the highlight has to be La valse, offering a dizzying kaleidoscope of shifting moods and colours...it's a fiendishly difficult work to perform, and yet with this ensemble it comes across as nothing other than deftly effortless.
20th February 2022
Wilson’s crack, handpicked orchestra responds to his refined, meticulous baton with playing of ravishing textural beauty, rhythmic elan and, in the repeated refrain of Boléro, cumulative power. An outstanding collection leaving the listener wanting more.
