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Mercury Living Presence Boxed Set CD30 van55
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe Suite No.2; Bolero; Valses nobles et sentimentales / Debussy: Three Nocturnes for Orchestra; Petite Suite
Detroit Symphony Orchestra olv Paul Paray, Harold Lawrence conducts Wayne State University Women's Glee Club.
In this recording, you get to hear the absolutely best performance of "Bolero" ever commmitted to disk. Paul Paray recorded this in the early days of stereo, and it hasn't been bettered since. The way the conductor controls the momentum and inexorably builds to a truly shattering climax is amazing ... and mesmerizing!
The "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales" is performed here as a "dance" number, not some sort of "dream sequence" like so many other conductors approach this music. It's good to remember that this piece was performed as a ballet in Paris in 1912, in a memorable evening in the annals of dance that also included La Peri (Dukas) and La Tragedie de Salome (Florent Schmitt).
The Debussy "Nocturnes" is given a highly effective performance as well. Paray's clouds drift by more quickly in the "Nuages" movement when compared to the lazy pace of other conductors, while the "Fetes" movement carries the listener along on the crest of its own excitement. In the concluding "Sirenes", for once a conductor treats the "call of the sirens" as a portent of danger and death, not some sort of comforting quietude. There's a weird sort of nervous energy in this performance that is different from any other interpretation I've heard - and completely convincing. After you've experienced this, it's really hard to go back to the scads of other "Nocturnes" recordings that just sound boring by comparison.