There is nothing unusual in the choice of works for this portmanteau CD of central Ravel but Emmanuel Krivine elicits performances of appropriately shimmering sheen and animation from the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. They begin with Ravel’s own orchestration of ‘Alborada del gracioso’ from his set of piano pieces Miroirs, as exuberant as could be and also shot through with the flecks of luminous colour so typical of Ravel’s palette of instrumental timbre. Krivine shapes the contrastingly tranquil picture of ‘Une barque sur l’océan’, also originally from Miroirs, with fluency and with supple suggestions of sea spray and the waves’ rise and fall.

Shéhérazade is sung enchantingly and seductively by the mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes and the orchestra is responsive to the music’s mix of gentle exoticism and Gallic finesse. Without necessarily making you sit up and marvel at the extraordinary originality and daring of Boléro and La valse, Krivine and the orchestra do invest them with a good deal of character, playing with an overall warmth of sonority and etching in the inflections that enliven the textures. The Pavane pour une infante défunte is eloquently subdued. But somehow it is difficult to get terribly excited about the disc as a whole. In such familiar repertoire one perhaps looks for performances in which the music is refreshed and in some way newly vibrant or poignant. Krivine and his orchestra do a good job, and the programme is attractive, but on occasion the interpretations fail to ignite the vital spark of inspiration.