Ravel: L'Enfant et les Sortileges / L'Heure Espagnole

Speaking as a Ravel fanatic (but not a Maazel fanatic) I have to admit I have never heard these mini-operas better performed.The remastering is nothing short of a miracle, perhaps the best I've ever heard and I have plenty of early 60s remastered recordings.Probably the best gamble I've taken on Amazon in the last year. Absolutely fantastic!

Lorin Maazel has recorded the definitive L'Enfant version. My son performed it with Maazel in 2011 at Castleton(he was one of the homework) What a great piece. This CD set is magnificent. Cannot go wrong at all. No brainer, buy it it you have the interest.

I've been a huge Ravel fan since the year One, but I've stayed away from his two operas because I just wasn't much of an opera guy. But that's been changing for the past few months and I've been catching up on tons of operas and enjoying a good many of them. I'm not much of a Maazel fan either, but couldn't resist this package as the DG originals remasterings are really excellent.Well, surprise of surprises, Maazel does a great job here with all four pieces. But I bought it for the Ravel and L'Heure Espagnol was fun for what it was, but the gem is L'Enfant et les Sortileges, a rather incredible mini-opera, as if Ravel and Kurt Weill had collaborated in some Fantasyland. I loved every minute of it. And a word about the Stravinsky - I never thought I'd be saying this about a Maazel recording, but this is simply one of the best versions of Le Chant du rossignol that I've ever heard and I've heard 'em all. Part of that has to do with the band and a lot has to do with the amazing sound of this recording.In short, you can't go wrong here - it's incredible value for money.

This 2-disc collection can be recommended safely from more or less any point of view. At the time of writing that even includes the asking prices that I am seeing, which are very competitive. Aside from price considerations, the selection of compositions was what attracted me, and it may do the same for other collectors. Both of Ravel’s little operas, each lasting about three quarters of an hour, are here, and so are Rimsky’s Capriccio Espagnol and Stravinsky’s Chant du Rossignol. These are both substantial pieces in their own right, and not my idea of ‘fillers’. Performances of both are excellent, and Stravinsky’s Nightingale may not be one of his more commonly performed works. It is hardly possible to listen to any classical music on radio, of course, without encountering Rimsky’s Capriccio pretty frequently, so often that I have never bothered to look for a version to collect. Nor would I have this time, but Providence has taken a hand and brought me a fine version for completeness’ sake in case I ever get the urge to listen to it as an act of free choice.The recordings were done originally over the period 1958-1965 and have been subjected to a process called ‘original-image bit-processing’ whatever precisely that consists of. The results in three cases out of the four seem just fine to me, but for some reason I thought the sound in L’Enfant et les Sortileges duller than on the version that won a Gramophone prize for the remastered category in 1989. Further listening may modify this impression but in the interests of frankness I should make the point here, especially as the remastered issue may be hard to find these days.I reviewed that particular disc a couple of years ago, and I don’t retract any of the enthusiasm that I expressed then as far as the performance is concerned – it is an outright tour de force in every department inspired by the utterly original and fantastic libretto by Mme Colette no less. L’Heure Espagnole is a French bedroom farce in a Spanish setting, and French farces are something I have to be in the mood for. However this particular performance goes a long way to putting me in the right frame of receptivity, and I can only think that it will have the same effect on others, recorded sound and all. I just hope my slight misgivings over the sound in Sortileges are something that time and repetition will allay. Of course I already have the remastered version that I referred to above, and it might not be extravagance for anyone collecting this issue to add that as well, supposing they can find it.

This album has a place on my top fifty list; it's one that deserves a place in any and every collection once you've gotten through the first round of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven must-haves. The Ravel operettas are marvelous, and unlike anything else in the repertoire, and the two orchestral suites are required listening. All of this is music that came out of Paris in the early 20th century, when Paris was the artistic capital of the world; it's a welcome change, then, to (as the French have so quaintly put it) leave out the "sauerkraut" -- as the large majority of first-rate classical music has been so distinctly Teutonic -- and immerse yourself in Gallic styles and forms.The one piece of these four that I do not find completely captivating is L'heure espagnole. I don't think this little operetta works very well on record: it strikes me as an opera of recitatives -- no arias, no big hummable tunes -- so that without seeing it staged you're missing so much of the content. The orchestral writing is subtle and colorful and the story is highly amusing, but again the music doesn't work so well on its own.L'enfant et les sortilèges, on the other hand, is above criticism as performed here. I have an unreserved admiration for this opera. Quinessentially Ravelian melody and orchestral writing, wonderful characters, far-reaching thematic contrast and expressive range: this one has it all.As for the orchestral pieces, Capriccio espagñol is a minor work next to L'enfant et les sortilèges and Chant du rossignol, but if you like Scheherezade you'll like Capriccio espagñol as well, and the Berlin Philharmonic's reading is first-rate. And this is easily my favorite performance of Stravinsky's Chant du rossignol. I know the Boulez/NYP recording, Oue/Minnesota, and Reiner/Chicago, but Maazel breathes fire and drive into the score that outdoes all of those.

This 2-disc collection can be recommended safely from more or less any point of view. At the time of writing that even includes the asking prices that I am seeing, which are very competitive. Aside from price considerations, the selection of compositions was what attracted me, and it may do the same for other collectors. Both of Ravel’s little operas, each lasting about three quarters of an hour, are here, and so are Rimsky’s Capriccio Espagnol and Stravinsky’s Chant du Rossignol. These are both substantial pieces in their own right, and not my idea of ‘fillers’. Performances of both are excellent, and Stravinsky’s Nightingale may not be one of his more commonly performed works. It is hardly possible to listen to any classical music on radio, of course, without encountering Rimsky’s Capriccio pretty frequently, so often that I have never bothered to look for a version to collect. Nor would I have this time, but Providence has taken a hand and brought me a fine version for completeness’ sake in case I ever get the urge to listen to it as an act of free choice.The recordings were done originally over the period 1958-1965 and have been subjected to a process called ‘original-image bit-processing’ whatever precisely that consists of. The results in three cases out of the four seem just fine to me, but for some reason I thought the sound in L’Enfant et les Sortileges duller than on the version that won a Gramophone prize for the remastered category in 1989. Further listening may modify this impression but in the interests of frankness I should make the point here, especially as the remastered issue may be hard to find these days.I reviewed that particular disc a couple of years ago, and I don’t retract any of the enthusiasm that I expressed then as far as the performance is concerned – it is an outright tour de force in every department inspired by the utterly original and fantastic libretto by Mme Colette no less. L’Heure Espagnole is a French bedroom farce in a Spanish setting, and French farces are something I have to be in the mood for. However this particular performance goes a long way to putting me in the right frame of receptivity, and I can only think that it will have the same effect on others, recorded sound and all. I just hope my slight misgivings over the sound in Sortileges are something that time and repetition will allay. Of course I already have the remastered version that I referred to above, and it might not be extravagance for anyone collecting this issue to add that as well, supposing they can find it.

An extremely satisfactory recording of, in fact, both of Ravel's short operas - also included L'enfant et les sortileges. Performances of both works are splendid, and the product was very competitively priced.

Dass diese Aufnahmen schon Jahrzehnte zurückliegen, ist kaum zu fassen! Sie sind einfach perfekt und auf der Höhe der Erwartungen, die man heutzutage hat.Das ist jedoch nur der technische Eindruck. Dem gegenüber fällt die Interpretation nicht ab, nein, sie ist grandios!Die Sänger sind dem eigentümlichen Werk mehr als gewachsen, die Sprachverständlichkeit bereitet höchste Freude.Maazel leitet das Ensemble perfekt.Es macht ausgesprochen viel Spaß, diese Interpretationen zu hören.Lediglich in den tiefen Bässen wünschte man sich gelegentlich etwas mehr Volumen. Es ist aber bei der allgemein großartigen Leistung zu verschmerzen.

Bien que légèrement datée par rapport aux prises de sons numériques d'aujourd'hui, ces enregistrements remasterisés par la Deutsche Grammophon restent une référence incontournable pour ces deux œuvres de Ravel que sont "l'enfant et les sortilèges", et "l'heure espagnole". Le travail effectué par Lorin Maazel est remarquable, et lui a valu le grand prix du disque en 1961. Les interprètes sont magnifiques, tout est parfaitement juste et à sa place. Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, la musique de Ravel est au service de l'humour à travers un conte fantastique mis en paroles par Colette (l'enfants et les sortilèges), et un opéra comique dont le livret est signé Franc-Nohain (l'heure espagnole). Ce double C.D. est accompagné d'un livret très complet qui permet d'aller un peu plus loin! N'oublions pas la présence du "capriccio espagnol" de Rimsky-Korsakov, ainsi que du "chant du rossignol" de Stravinsky. Un coffret hommage de la Deutsche Grammophon à la musique dirigée par Lorin Maazel.

Cette version de deux oeuvres phare de Ravel, enregistrées en 1965, restent, près de 50 ans après, indépassable. Que ce soit dans la direction de Maazel, ou dans le choix des solistes ((Berbié, Van Dam, Sénéchal, Maurane, Bacquier), cette réalisation restera gravée et pour longtemps nos coeurs.