Claude Debussy: La Mer; Prélude à l' après-midi d'un faune; Nocturnes
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Composer: Claude DebussyComposer: Maurice Ravel
Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy
Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-06-12
Music Label: Decca
Product features:
- ASHKENAZY VLADIMIR / CLEVELAND O. DEBUSSY / RAVEL
- La Mer: Prld A L'apres-midi D'un Faune
- Nocturnes: 1. Nuages
- Nocturnes: 2. Fetes
- Nocturnes: 3. Sirenes
- La Mer - Three Symphonic Sketches: 1. De L'aube A Midi Sur La Mer
- La Mer - Three Symphonic Sketches: 2. Jeux De Vagues
- La Mer - Three Symphonic Sketches: 3. Dialogue Du Vent Et De La Mer
- Rapsodie Espagnole: 1. Prld A La Nuit
- Rapsodie Espagnole: 2. Malaguena
- Rapsodie Espagnole: 3. Habanera
- Rapsodie Espagnole: 4. Feria
Music reviews of Claude Debussy: La Mer; Prélude à l' après-midi d'un faune; Nocturnes
Music Review: Music with eloquence
Rating: 5 Stars
I DO NOT AGREE, as far as this album is concerned, with the dismissive reviews in Gramophone (Fe-Apr 1987). Even if this record is not competitive with the greatest names, i think it deserves accolades for the very qualities of its musical content. And the recorded sound for Decca is utterly excellent (Andrew Cornall, who also worked for Lyrita and Philips notably, is the producer). It goes without saying that the performances, as good as they are, aren't quite on the same level as the great ones from Toscanini (RCA, reissued Guild), Van Beinum (Philips), Haitink (Philips), Stokowski (EMI), Giulini (EMI), Boulez (DG), Monteux (Decca), Dutoit (Decca), Paray (Mercury), Reiner and Munch (RCA/BMG). Even so, this CD by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Cleveland Orchestra offers gorgeous, finely crafted renderings in exemplary sonics. This is an album offering fine performances spared from intolerable blunders or deadly sins that, otherwise, did impair a number of recordings in the past.
The sound is very clear, overall, and the dynamic range is imposing. From hushed pianissimos to loud fortes or crescendos the music never fails to bring its share of abandon and fervor. The Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is fancy and colorful. The opening points to an unaffectedly atmospheric account. The harp sound is gleaming and crystalline; the flute of Jeffrey Khaner has a fine, echoing pitch undoubtedly reinforced slightly by the moderate reverb in the auditorium.
The Nocturnes certainly lack the modest grandeur and vision of a memorable 1940 performance by Stokowski in Philadelphia (heard on YouTube). Still, there is enough undercurrent going on--with a reasonable amount of tension, enigma or excitement--to provide much musical enjoyment. The dreamy Nuages is beautifully played, with lush textures and tones in demi-teintes. Fetes shows vibrant, animated rhythms which conductor and orchestra pull off splendidly; the work overflows with a bold, ravelian grandeur that won't fail to recall `Valencia' from Ibert's Escales. The mysterious Sirenes, with its ballet-like melodic sequence, evokes a Holstian mood--the odd wordless chorus is similar to what's been used in England in Holst's `Neptune' (from The Planets) or in Vaughan Williams's `Flos Campi'. This is a quite satisfying version. Neither Rahbari (Naxos) nor the much praised Abbado (DG) has had the requisite consistency and aural luxuriance of this Ashkenazy recording, regardless of their respective qualities. Perhaps i should add that a reviewer for MusicWeb justly remarked that "one of the best ever Nocturnes was with Dorati and the Minneapolis S.O."--issued on the Mercury label but, apparently, no longer available.
La Mer has been previously recorded in Cleveland: By Szell, for CBS, in 1963, and by Boulez, for DG, in 1993 (the latter with a revelatory account of the three Nocturnes). As the classical music reviewer David Hurwitz noted in one of his reviews for Boulez's epitomic Debussy, "the Cleveland Orchestra is the ideal vehicle for this sort of interpretation, being perhaps the most technically precise band in the world." And i think that those merits applied as well to the 1980's Cleveland recordings with Ashkenazy: If not quite completely as the Boulez, at least for the two-thirds of the latter. La Mer has those scintillating colors with lots of superb, undulating harmonies which Ashkenazy did not overlook. He and the orchestra are especially at their finest in the third movement, `Dialogue du Vent et de la Mer'. That part shows a more agitated side of the work. The turbulent quotations will certainly recall Jean Sibelius's renowned suite The Tempest (1926). The orchestral response is properly massive while it avoids the sometimes too overbearing approach of some interpreters. `Jeu de Vagues' seems somewhat more "ambiguous" musically, but here it is superbly shaped with sumptuous presence. There's a dance-like quality to the music, over a sort of ethereal climate, and here the nice results show the commitment from all concerned. Ashkenazy emphatically reveals the strengths of Debussy's sublime orchestrations.
Ravel's lauded Rapsodie espagnole is equally finely played, if lacking the intensity (and feeling) of the superior versions, such as Reiner or Monteux. The inner movements are particularly fine. The `Malaguena' has some special flavors; the delicate motif is played with sensitivity and the most flamboyant music, such as heard in `Feria', is also satisfying (there are inspiring moments, though definitely not without any fault, helped by a wonderful sound achieved by Decca). I'll quote Gramophone (April 1992) in some comments of approval toward Ashkenazy's Ravel: "To hear Cleveland's Ravel with a realistic dynamic range, reasonable depth and great tonal purity is a rare pleasure. Dutoit's Decca versions still remain basic library recommendations but, despite reservations, this album is worth anyone's money. And i write this haunted by the faintly reptilian presence of the bass clarinet and contrabass sarrusophone in the Rapsodie's inner movements; the latter, at the end of the Malaguena..." But, definitely, in this instance the Ravel is not quite up to the usual high standards we currently encounter on numerous CDs from virtually every country.
I almost forgot to mention the beneficial presence on disc (for Debussy) of Previn (with LSO, on EMI), Martinon (EMI) and the more recent Nezet-Seguin (Atma Classique, reviewed last month), all admirable and a little much better than this one in some specific areas. Indeed, Ashkenazy's version isn't all perfect, far from it, and it won't challenge any of the finest performances. Still, in spite of occasional drawbacks it must be reiterated that the Cleveland Orchestra offers an impressive account of the Nocturnes, a dedicated performance in both La Mer and the Prelude, not to mention some finely played music in the Rapsodie. Though the score is not scrupulously followed "to the letter," the choices of tempi seem "right" most of the time--and they are (most markedly in the elusive dayspring entry of La Mer and throughout the Nocturnes). In conclusion, this is a most fantastic (bargain-priced) reissue with those features that make for some great French--and Spanish-flavored in the Ravel--orchestral music. For those reasons--and for the splendid sound--i think this album deserves five stars because, even if it were at mid-price, there's enough to convince and bring musical enjoyment during some seventy-two minutes.
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Description of Claude Debussy: La Mer; Prélude à l' après-midi d'un faune; Nocturnes
ASHKENAZY VLADIMIR / CLEVELAND O. DEBUSSY / RAVELClassical CDs
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