About the Composer: Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a famous French romantic composer who created several notable solo piano compositions. Regrettably, Ravel is most often associated with his orchestral work Bolero, a repetitive and somewhat mind-numbing piece that does not demonstrate his true mastership. In addition to his original compositions, Ravel also created an orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s classic piano suite Pictures at An Exhibition.
About the Music: Listening to Ravel’s works is akin to peering through a wondrous collection of dark azure and crimson jewels; upon glimpsing the surfaces of the various gems, the peripherals appear to be rather dark, but radiance can be readily seen. The ballet Daphnis et Chloé, Ravel’s longest work, is no different. Its melodies can at times seem fairly ominous, but there are a number of sprightly passages within its two suites. Introduced in 1912, the ballet focuses on the romance between a shepherd and shepherdess in ancient Greece who encounter various mythical characters. In this seminal interpretation of the ballet, one of the very first releases for the compact disc format, conductor Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra harness the full capabilities of the instruments necessary for the work to astound the listener.
Part One
1. Introduction et Danse religieuse – The ballet begins with a slow, yet towering melody accompanied by a wordless chorus. The music reaches its crescendo at 2m14s. The main theme of the ballet first emerges here at 1m24s-2m14s. There is a very nice passage at 2m49s-3m05s that is repeated at 4m10s-4m25s. This is my favourite segment of the ballet.
2. Scéne – Danse générale – A very lush piece in which the instruments encompass the entire spectrum of sound.
3. Danse grotesque de Dorcon – Scéne – The music is formidable yet dazzling in this section. Be sure to hear the music sternly rise and then colourfully drop at 0m25s-0m55s!
4. Danse légére et gracieuse de Daphnis – Quite restful in comparison to the previous segments, but moments of vibrancy abound. The main theme makes a return at 2m47s-3m33s.
5. Scéne – Danse de Lycéion – Scéne (les pirates) – A little darker at times than the preceding piece, but still fairly similar. A more forceful rendition of the main theme appears at 2m15s-2m43s. The exclamation at 3m29s-3m36s reminds me of a section from the Star Wars soundtrack. If you hear it , you’ll quickly understand what I mean.
6. Scéne – Danse lente et mystérieuse – Fairly dark and reserved. The wind machine is effectively employed at 1m20s-1m39s, 2m38s-2m50s, and 3m29s-3m35s to help establish atmosphere. I’m always enthralled when early 20th century composers incorporate unique sound making devices in order to augment the traditional array of instruments. It’s a shame Ravel didn’t live long enough to get his hands on a Moog synthesizer!
Part Two
7. Introduction – The chorus is in full force here.
8. Danse guerriére – Extremely intense with heavy use of the brass. I find the thrashing at 3m39s-3m47s to be quite annoying, but Top 40 Airplay is still far, far worse.
9. Scéne – Danse suppliante de Chloé – The first minute of this segment exemplifies Ravel’s ability to create music that is uplifting but not overly saccharine. Several sudden flourishes follow.
Part Three
10. Lever du jour – Scéne – This is the most famous portion of the ballet. Figure skaters like to perform to this piece because of its graceful nature.
11. Daphnis et Chloé miment l’aventure de Pan et de Syrinx – Aside from a playful episode at 3m10s-3m45s, it seems that the orchestra is trying to relax after the earlier piece.
12. Danse générale – When I first heard this, I didn’t care for it very much, but after repeated listenings, I discovered that it features several quick and nifty reiterations of various earlier passages. The ballet ends with a loud fanfare.
As a bonus, this Decca Legends reissue includes Dutoit’s recordings of two of Ravel’s other major works, the fantastically sombre Pavane pour une Infante Défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) and the turbulent symphonic waltz La Valse. While the former piece is extremely well executed by Dutoit and the MSO, I felt that the later portion of La Valse lacked the intensity that can be found in other recordings, such as the one by Jansug Kakhidze which I discovered a couple of years ago on a budget disc that I picked up at Zellers.
