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This month's clutch of ELOQUENCE releases brings nine French recordings - five of these devoted to Ravel, two to Debussy, and two to frothy French favourites from Jean Martinon. And the breaking news is that for the first time ever, three Australian Eloquence titles have been awarded the coveted Penguin 'Rosette' (over and above the top *** rating) - two Martinon recordings and the Bach Cantatas recorded in the 1960s with Janet Baker and Neville Marriner. They are listed at the end of this page. *** = 'An outstanding performance and recording in every way' ROSETTE = 'shows special illumination, magic, a spiritual quality, or even outstanding production values, that places it in a very special class' |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING Seiji Ozawa's magnificent Ravel recordings for DG were made in the 1970s and issued as a 3CD set. They have long been out of the catalogue and are now reissued individually and at budget price on Australian Eloquence. The sheer energy and sense of colour, the acuity of Ozawa and the Bostonians response to every shifting mood, is tantalising. Volume 2 brings one of the most spry and sexy readings of Le Tombeau de Couperin, a Rapsodie Espagnole with the excitement of its concluding 'Feria' possibly unequalled among latter-day recordings, and a highly imaginative Ma Mère l'Oye. |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING 'Ozawa's 1974 Daphnis offers deluxe sound and a powerhouse, lush reading of the score' Gramophone |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING Three of Ravel's chamber works, none currently available in the catalogue, all coupled at budget price. The Beaux Arts' magnificent, full-throttle reading of the Piano Trio is their most recent (1983) recording of this work. The Carmirelli Quartet recorded for Decca in the 1950s and theirs is a demure reading of the Quartet. Eduard van Beinum fans will rejoice in the issue, for the first time on CD, of the Introduction et Allegro, featuring the Concertgebouw's long-time harpist, Phia Berghout. Recorded in 1952, it was originally released on a Decca EP, coupled with Debussy's Danse sacrée et danse profane (now reissued on Philips Eloquence 476 8500). 'this new Beaux Arts performance, even more than their previous one, is most sensitive to the music's ebb and flow, acutely aware of its inventive new combinations of sounds ... the new Beaux Arts recording now becomes the prime recommendation' Gramophone |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING This collection of Ravel's most popular piano works restores to the catalogue all the Ravel Vladimir Ashkenazy ever recorded - a thrilling Gaspard (his second - 1982 - recording of this work) as well as the Pavane and Valses. The coupling presents the gifted young pianist Naida Cole in an ethereal Jeux d'eau and one of the most amazingly vibrant Miroirs ever to be recorded. Has the evocation of moths in 'Noctuelles' ever been more picturesquely conveyed...? Ashkenazy's [recording of Gaspard], is the most dramatic, and the most unified - not least because of the seemingly limitless, yet precisely directed, energy with which he performs this movement. [His] Valses are, again, as fine a piece of Ravel-playing as I have heard: highly poetic, shaded by a remarkable diversity of nuances and with a sensitive regard for contrasts in tempo' Gramophone |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING Pierre Monteux had the honour of conducting several important premieres from both French composers as well as others, like Stravinsky, who made their home in France. Here, released internationally on CD for the first time, are his 1961 recordings of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and the first and second Nocturnes (he never recorded 'Sirènes' for Decca). The hazy atmosphere and latent sexual energy of the Prélude has seldom been more evocatively conveyed. The coupling is Monteux's Philips recording of the complete Images for orchestra, recorded in 1963 and now reappearing in the catalogue at budget price. 'All portamentos (where marked) rise or fall beautifully - and together! - under the fingers (eg. the central movement of ''Iberia'' abound in examples), you will also hear a great range of vibrato, very prominent, for example, in the gorgeous husky tone for the viola and violin gipsy song solos in the first two movements of Iberia' Gramophone |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING This collection of orchestral works - more profane than sacred! - collects together a series of rare recordings, some appearing for the first time on CD. One such is Eduard van Beinum's recording of the Danse sacrée et danse profane with the Concertgebouw's harpist Phia Berghout. Recorded in 1952, it was originally released on a Decca EP, coupled with Ravel's Introduction et Allegro (now reissued on Decca Eloquence 476 8458). Likewise, the beautifully graded Marche ecossaise makes a first-time appearance, and Monteux's 1963 excerpts from Le Martyre is restored to the catalogue. George Pieterson, another Concertgebouw principal is the athletic clarinet soloist in the Première Rapsodie, and the collection concludes with the tennis-game-turned-ménage-à-trois Jeux, in Haitink's award-winning recording. 'all Haitink's Debussy is notable for his location of rhythm, and its buoyant and precise articulation ... Haitink's Jeux... is possessed of a near miraculous precision, definition and delicacy. I know of no other account where Debussy's large orchestra so resembles a fine tuned, perfectly balanced chamber ensemble; or where the ''orchestral banter'' (Messiaen's description) is as vivid and variegated' Gramophone 'There is a vivid yet refined feeling for colour which is carried through into the orchestral sections of Le Martyre. The delicacy of Debussy's exquisite scoring is marvellously balanced by Monteux and he never lets the music become static' Penguin Guide |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs (2005/6 Edition) awards this recording three stars and a ROSETTE, and writes: 'Classic accounts of three cantatas ... Both Dame Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk are in marvellous voice ... Indeed, this collection of cantatas is among the finest in the catalogue and is well worth seeking out. The mid-1960s recordings are of Decca's vintage quality.' |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs (2005/6 Edition) awards this recording three stars and a ROSETTE, and writes: 'an exuberantly vivacious collection of the Slavonic Dances ... full, warm sound from 1959' [Dvorak] 'In Martinon's hands, Massenet's tunes fizz and effervesce like the best champagne ... Equally remarkable is the astonishingly vivid Decca recording, the sort of brilliant yet warm sound for which the company became famous, and it is superbly transferred to CD.' [Massenet] 'the CD transfer is superb ... no less astonishing is the quality of the playing, with Martinon inducing the Israeli orchestra to catch the full inflexion of the French ballet style: the performance overflows with colour, and the tunes come tumbling out, bursting with joie de vivre. ' [Meyerbeer] |
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ARTISTS TRACKLISTING The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs (2005/6 Edition) awards this recording three stars and a ROSETTE, and writes: 'Quite the best ever committed to disc ... elegant and sparkling ... deliciously crisp ... A unique disc and well worth any effort to obtain.' |
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