Ravel: Orchestral Works (CD review)

Jean Martinon, Orchestre de Paris. EMI 50999 5 00892 2 (3-disc set).

Jean Martinon made these EMI analogue recordings of the music of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) in 1974, and I remember critics received them well. However, they were rather quickly eclipsed a few years later by the first of Charles Dutoit's Decca digital releases. Dutoit and his Montreal orchestra were certainly very good, but the popularity of their recordings might have had as much to do with their then-new digital processing as anything else. So, not to take anything away from Dutoit, but I'd say Martinon got a bit shortchanged on the deal. Anyway, it's good to have Martinon's set of Ravel orchestral works back in the catalogue at so reasonable a price. You can hardly fault the performances or the sound.

Indeed, when you listen to these performances and then compare them side by side with Dutoit's, you notice that Dutoit is often the more matter-of-fact conductor. Martinon's interpretations are frequently the more voluptuous, the more emotional, the more sweetly romantic. You can hear this from the outset with Bolero, that fifteen-minute sustained pulse of a work. It has never sounded more sensuous than under Martinon. Then there is the Rapsodie espagnole, never more colorful; La Valse, never more graceful or menacing; Ma mere l'Oye, never more beautiful or unassuming; La Tombeau de Couperin, never more charming or more memorable; and the Valses nobles et sentimentales, never more invigorating or more strangely melancholy. And so on. About the only piece I found slightly wanting was Martinon's version of the complete Daphnis et Chloe ballet, which sounds a bit underpowered to my ears, at least compared to Dutoit (Decca) or Monteux (Decca).

Yes, the Dutoit digital recordings are a touch clearer, better defined, than the Martinon analogue ones, and yet the faintly rounder, warmer sounds of the Orchestre de Paris seem a perfect fit for Ravel's generally impressionistic music. I liked the stereo spread of the EMI recordings and their attractive sense of ambience and depth in the orchestra. Then, too, taken away from the direct comparison with the Dutoit offerings, the Martinon discs sound totally scrumptious, so what's not to like? EMI was in a golden era of recording in the 1970s, and this set from Martinon is near the top of their class.

Dare I say it? This may be the best Ravel set currently before the public, even after all these years.

Adapted from a review the author originally published in the $ensible Sound magazine.

JJP