Set in fourteenth-century Chitoor (which Roussel visited in 1909 sharing Ramsay Macdonald's elephant), Padmavati combines exotic indulgence with heroic astringency. It's what Saint-Saens tried to do in Samson et Dalila, but he lived in the age of the Grand Tune and so his work has survived in the repertoire while Roussel's web of shimmering colours and ambiguous harmonies has rarely seen the light of day since its premiere in 1923. At that performance it was given in a double-bill with L'heure espagnole, and no doubt the practical problems of staging (its in-between length and the necessity for an elaborate ballet) have also contributed to its neglect.
The dances and orchestral preludes are certainly prominent among the attractions of the score, and the playing of the Toulouse orchestra under Plasson is a great strength in the recording. The strong cast is headed by Marilyn Horne whom LS in his original review found ''altogether too masterful'': I think we disagree there, but it is unfortunately true that her voice loses firmness under pressure in the upper register. Van Dam sings with grave, treacherous nobility, Gedda with more character than beauty in the role originally taken by Paul Franz. Among the supporting singers are two of France's best lyric tenors, Burles and Dran.
The recording is clear and mostly well balanced, though CD playing-time is hardly generous, and it might have been possible to find a ten-minute fillup piece on the second disc.'