Ravel Enfant et les Sortilèges; Ma mère l'oye

View record and artist details

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Maurice Ravel

Genre:

Opera

Label: DG

Magazine Review Date: 10/1999

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 73

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 457 589-2GH

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
(L')Enfant et les sortilèges, 'Bewitched Child'	Maurice Ravel, Composer André Previn, Conductor Anne-Marie Owens, Mother, Soprano Anne-Marie Owens, Shepherd, Soprano Anne-Marie Owens, Mother, Soprano Anne-Marie Owens, Shepherd, Soprano Anne-Marie Owens, Shepherd, Soprano Anne-Marie Owens, Mother, Soprano David Wilson-Johnson, Grandfather Clock, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, Grandfather Clock, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, He-cat, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, Armchair, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, He-cat, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, He-cat, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, Armchair, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, Armchair, Tenor David Wilson-Johnson, Grandfather Clock, Tenor Elizabeth Futral, Nightingale, Soprano Elizabeth Futral, Fire, Soprano Elizabeth Futral, Princess, Soprano Jacqueline Miura, She-cat, Soprano Jacqueline Miura, Chinese Cup, Soprano Juanita Lascarro, Shepherd, Soprano Juanita Lascarro, Owl, Soprano London Symphony Chorus (amateur) London Symphony Orchestra Mark Tucker, Old Man, Tenor Mark Tucker, Frog, Tenor Mark Tucker, Teapot, Tenor Mary Plazas, Shepherdess, Soprano Mary Plazas, Bat, Soprano Maurice Ravel, Composer New London Children's Choir Pamela Helen Stephen, Child, Soprano Rimat Shaham, Dragonfly Rimat Shaham, Squirrel Robert Lloyd, Tree, Baritone
Ma Mère l'oye, 'Mother Goose'	Maurice Ravel, Composer Alessio de Paolis, Noctambulist; King of Fools, Tenor André Previn, Conductor Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Doris Doe, Mother, Soprano Enrico Campi, Chief of Police, Bass Ezio Pinza, Father, Baritone Giacinto Prandelli, L'Amante, Tenor Grace Moore, Louise, Soprano Graham Clark, Loge, Tenor Günter von Kannen, Alberich, Baritone John Tomlinson, Wotan, Baritone John Tomlinson, Wotan, Baritone John Tomlinson, Wotan, Baritone Kurt Schreibmayer, Froh, Tenor Linda Finnie, Fricka, Mezzo soprano London Symphony Orchestra Maria Amadini, L'Amica, Contralto (Female alto) Maurice Ravel, Composer Raoul Jobin, Julien, Tenor Silvana Zanolli, First Maid, Mezzo soprano Silvia Mazzoni, Second Maid, Mezzo soprano

Composer or Director: Maurice Ravel

Genre:

Opera

Label: DG

Magazine Review Date: 10/1999

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 70

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 457 590-2GH

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
(L') Heure espagnole	Maurice Ravel, Composer André Previn, Conductor David Wilson-Johnson, Don Inigo Gomez, Tenor Georges Gautier, Torquemada, Tenor John Mark Ainsley, Gonzalve, Tenor Kimberley Barber, Concepcion Kurt Ollmann, Ramiro, Baritone London Symphony Orchestra Maurice Ravel, Composer
Rapsodie espagnole	Maurice Ravel, Composer André Previn, Conductor Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Anne Evans, Brünnhilde, Soprano Eva-Maria Brundschuh, Gutrune, Soprano John Tomlinson, Wotan, Baritone John Tomlinson, Wotan, Baritone John Tomlinson, Wotan, Baritone London Symphony Orchestra Maurice Ravel, Composer Siegfried Jerusalem, Siegfried, Tenor

Author: Patrick O'Connor

L’heure espagnole doesn’t enjoy the popularity that has lighted on Ravel’s second opera, the much more difficult-to-perform L’enfant et les sortileges. The problem with L’heure espagnole on disc is that all the visual jokes about the clocks being carried up and down stairs by the handsome muleteer with muscles of iron don’t make any sense. All three of the classic versions listed above are over 35 years old, and my own favourite, the Cluytens with Denise Duval as the clockmaker’s wife, Concepcion, was recorded in 1952. She is definitely a soprano, as is Suzanne Danco with Ansermet, but Jane Berbie for Maazel took it into mezzo territory. Although Kimberley Barber is listed as a soprano, she has more than a touch of the mezzo about her voice, so makes Concepcion sound rather tougher than the flirty Duval.
This is the first digital L’heure espagnole, so the clarity of the orchestra comes as a very big advantage. Andre Previn, who has come to opera in the third act of his career – since this recording was made he has composed and performed his own Streetcar – brings out all the cynicism in Ravel’s commentary on the foibles of all concerned, and the sudden little bursts of melody are all beautifully handled. The Rapsodie espagnole is the obvious and delightful choice as fill-up.
L’enfant, in contrast, is an ideal gramophone opera. The problem Colette posed in her mystery story, with teapot and wallpaper and armchairs singing, and then a whole garden full of bugs, beetles, squirrels and other animals all needing the genius of a producer and designer to bring them to life is bypassed. Previn is here returning to an opera he’s already recorded, and this new version is an advance on his EMI performance. As with L’heure epagnole, the orchestral sound is impressive, but the competition here is even fiercer (though a nicely shaped Ma mere l’oye makes a good coupling). The classic version under Ernest Bour is a historic affair, hardly to be compared to a modern recording: the performances of all the soloists are so secure in the French idiom that Previn’s cast, excellent though it is, sounds a little tentative by comparison. The Dutoit Montreal version (Decca, 10/95) is the best of the modern L’enfants but it has not survived in the catalogue. The two historic recordings, L’enfant under Bour and L’heure espagnole with Cluytens, are both irreplaceable classics. This new L’heure espagnole has the field to itself as the only modern recording, but bear in mind the Maazel versions of both works, now in DG’s Originals series. '

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Ravel Enfant et les Sortilèges; Ma mère l'oye

Record and Artist Details

Ravel Enfant et les Sortilèges; Ma mère l'oye

Ravel L'Heure Espagnole; Rapsodie Espagnole

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