Track Listing

1. Daphnis & Chloe Suite No.2, Lever du jour
2. Daphnis & Chloe Suite No.2, Pantomime
3. Daphnis & Chloe Suite No.2, Danse g�n�rale
4. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Mod�r�
5. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Assez lent
6. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Mod�r�
7. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Assez anim�
8. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Presque lent
9. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Vif
10. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Moins Vif
11. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Epiloge: lent
12. Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, La Valse
13. Ma m�re l'oye, Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant
14. Ma m�re l'oye, Petit Poucet
15. Ma m�re l'oye, Laideronnette, Imp�ratrice des Pagodes
16. Ma m�re l'oye, Les entretiends de al Belle and de la B�te
17. Ma m�re l'oye, Apoth�ose: Le jardin f�erique

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83702 in Music
• Released on: 2010-01-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Album Description
This album of orchestral works by Ravel marks Yannick Nézet-Séguin's debut recording with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. To the French- Canadian conductor, Maurice Ravel is the greatest orchestrator that French music has ever had, which he and the orchestra want to showcase on this recording. "It's all about colors " Yannick said, and "the contrast between intimacy and grand. Valse being one of his greatest and most powerful symphonic poems, and yet the valses nobles et sentimentales being much more in the intimate way (...). In Ma Mere L'Oye, we are being so intimate, while Daphnis and Chloe is also one of his most uplifting and triumphant (works). There's a lot of contrast." In the 2008/2009 season, Yannick Nézet-Séguin succeeded Valery Gergiev as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and also became Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2000, he has been Artistic Director of the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal, gaining many awards for his work there. He has worked with all the leading Canadian orchestras and returns regularly to the Toronto Symphony. He made his European debut in late 2004 with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and has since received an unbroken string of re-invitations from every orchestra with which he has worked.

Los Angeles Times
"In everything, Nézet-Séguin -- who is flashy and hyper-expressive in his gestures -- got a sound I had never quite heard before from the Angelenos. It was lean, sleek, tart in the French manner, yet also very bold and forward. It reminded me of the sound of the Montreal Symphony during the Charles Dutoit era, but with more punch."

Customer Reviews

Impressive Youthful Conductor
I think Yannick breaks the stereotypes of classical music conductors. When I think of conductors, an image of an old man immediately appears. However Yannick is the exact opposite! He's a dynamic young, and might I say - attractive, conductor. You can hear his youthfulness in this record as he conducts the internationally acclaimed orchestra the Rotterdamn Philharmonic. There's power, there's grace, but most importantly - there's Yannick own touch/voice to the impressive classical works he's conducting.

A first rate orchestra with a very talented conductor!!
This is surely one of the best cd's with Ravel's orchestral works that I heard in my life! When I got the cd I was not prepared for this level of playing and so much love in the execution of the orchestra! The recorded sound is clear but never harsh, with a lot of details and much atmosphere.

As people in Europe and certainly in Holland know already for a long time there is one more fabulous orchestra in Holland apart from the Concertgebouw Orchestra and it's beautiful pluche sound: the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
The managing director of the Concertgebouw Orchestra Jan Raes put it like this: "Our sonority is closely associated with the hall: very different than in Rotterdam. If Rotterdam is "energetic" then Amsterdam is more "velvet", "rounded". The orchestra here is more introverted. Rotterdam is sometimes an orchestra of soloists and Amsterdam an orchestra of people working together to find a homogenous sound." (Quote from Musicweb International).

Two worldclass conductors only want to work with the Rotterdam Philharmonic when in Holland: Simon Rattle and Valeri Gergiev. Simon Rattle will do the Rosenkavalier with them next season and did a.o. Pélleas et Melisande, Parsifal and Tristan in the past. Gergiev's relation with them spans more than 20 years and he comes back each season for his own festival.

So, Yannick Nézet-Séguin had a dreamteam to make his first CD for EMI and a fine producer in Michael Fine. Each phrase on this cd is played with so much love and care and (especially in the Daphnis suite) you hear so many things which pass by in other performances! And let's not forget that one of Yannick's predecessors as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic was Jean Fournet:his influence on the Rotterdam Philharmonic in French music was immense.

One regret: why not the complete Ma Mère l'oye ballet? Especially when the Suite gets such a fabulous interpretation!!

In February 2010 the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nézet-Séguin will play two concerts in Carnegy Hall and make a tour in Canada. So please: go to listen to this wonderful orchestra and it's extremely talented Music Director!! If you are not able to go this CD will give you an idea what you will miss. Warmly recommended!!

Strangely chaste and restrained Ravel from a rising conductor
In the past few years the conductor Nezet-Seguin has gotten a stream of good press, and it's a major achievement for him to become a featured conductor on EMI -- clearly the label is betting that he has a future, even though they didn't pay the considerable fee necessary to record him with a major orchestra. No matter, the Rotterdam Phil. has learned its licks under no less than Valery Gregiev, their recently departed music director. Their sound isn't plush or virtuosic -- "proficient" is the word that comes easily to mind -- but as their new music director, Nezet-Seguin gets a good response form them.

This debut program of familiar Ravel scores is aimed at the French and French-Canadian market rather than longtime or serious collectors . Nezet-Seguin's approach isn't really competitive. Despite the product description's claim that he conducts with highly emotional gestures, Daphnis and Chloe begins in a plain, almost expressionless way. There's refinement and elegance in the phrasing, but an air of restraint hangs over everything. I can't imagine why, since this is such voluptuous music. If I had such a reading on Naxos, I would have assumed it came from a remote Polish orchestra under Mr. X as conductor.

The rhythmic slackness in Daphnis is somewhat repaired in the Valses nobles et sentimentales, where Nezet-Seguin, though still low-key, has no trouble with Ravel's silvery, shadowy waltzes; he captures their atmosphere in a lovely way. The transparent orchestration works better for the orchestra, which never really made much impact in the erotic surges of Daphnis. La valse has had any number of brilliant readings from conductors who understand its mixture of sex, elegance, and violence. Nezet-Seguin prefers to be chaste and rather noncommittal. The CD ends with Ravel's pastel-tinted take on Mother Goose, music that I have never responded to; I won't give an opinion of this version.

Overall, I'm not sure why EMI thinks that Nezet-Seguin is putting his best foot forward in a Ravel recital that is so underpowered and lacking in volupte. No doubt the Gramophone will rave.