Music composed for the theatre has always formed a major part of Valery Gergiev’s concert repertoire and his recent recordings have included an acclaimed performance of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet. The LSO have now released an new recording of Ravel’s score for the ballet Daphnis et Chloe. Ravel was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev in 1909 to write the music for Daphnis et Chloe. Although he subsequently prepared orchestral suites of the score, the complete work is a magnificent orchestral showpiece in its own right. Ravel described it as a symphonie choregraphique although it is essentially an extended tone poem. Luscious orchestral colours run throughout the work, portraying the passion of the two protagonists for each other. By contrast. Pavane pour une infante defunte, composed whilst Ravel was still a student of Gabriel Faure, harks back to the simplicity of the eighteenth-century music of Rameau. Bolero, one of his final works, highlights the Spanish influences and passion that pervade so many of his works,
"...This release is a triumph for Gergiev and the incomparable London Symphony. Bravo!" Brian Buerkle - American Record Guide March/April 2011
Supersonic
"Gergiev generates a frisson in everything he conducts ... This Daphnis with the London Symphony orchestra has everything one could want - atmosphere, languor, superb wind playing. Gergiev generates more high-voltage drama than rival versions."
Disc of the Month
Repertoire ***** Sound *****
Michael Kube
Performance **** Recording *****
"...this work is in the orchestra’s blood ... delivered with devastating panache."
Christopher Dingle
