# Ravel 'Daphnis and Chloe'



## Guest (Feb 3, 2020)

I've been listening to this stunning work and it grows in my estimation with each hearing. When you listen carefully you can detect the influence Ravel had on some of the composers who followed after him - even if that was just some passages and themes. The orchestration is, of course, sheer magic. And Ravel uses _leitmotif_ in a similar way that Wagner did. My version is BPO/Boulez, which is magnificent, but this one is pretty good too:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

it is a good work, probably would make it to my top100
my favorite part is the Daybreak


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Good ig but not imo Ravel’s best work


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Great work...one of the magical masterpieces. I don't know of a bad recording really. Boulez and Dutoit are of course excellent. Maazel, Munch, Cluytens, Monteux, Ansermet, Levi, Martinon...all superb. But if I had to get rid of all of them save one, it would be this newcomer. The playing, with the correct vintage instrumentation Ravel would have heard, is sensational.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

^^Yea verily!!!!


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

For all the lushness, originality, and drama in this score; for some reason I've never been able to sit through the whole thing. I almost find it "overripe" in its beauty, so to speak. There's also a lot of hushed passages that hold back the flow of the work IMO. The one I've liked best is Munch/BSO from 1961, which I gather is a recording he did not want released as opposed to his 1958 one.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*Ravel 'Daphnis and Chloe'*

Laurels to all those who love this musical work. Civilization is safe in your hands.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Wonderful masterpiece....probably Ravel's greatest...the variety of scenes, the brilliantly scored settings, the overall flow is quite special.
My favorites are Bernstein and Monteux, Abbado and Haitink are very good also...i like parts of Munch, others not so much...it's ok....
Haven't heard Boulez. I imagine he has a good grasp on it.


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2020)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> For all the lushness, originality, and drama in this score; for some reason I've never been able to sit through the whole thing. I almost find it "overripe" in its beauty, so to speak. There's also a lot of hushed passages that hold back the flow of the work IMO. The one I've liked best is Munch/BSO from 1961, which I gather is a recording he did not want released as opposed to his 1958 one.


Interesting comments and one I would have identified with 25 years or so ago. But sometimes the music we love the most takes the most time to reveal itself to us. And 'sit through the whole thing'? Remember it was written for ballet and not as a stand-alone work. Ergo, a "choreographic symphony" and composed on commission for the theatre. I'm not saying it cannot be appreciated without theatrical performance, but it's well to remember that "Daphnis and Chloe" has another incarnation aside from the music.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

mbhaub said:


> Great work...one of the magical masterpieces. I don't know of a bad recording really. Boulez and Dutoit are of course excellent. Maazel, Munch, Cluytens, Monteux, Ansermet, Levi, Martinon...all superb. But if I had to get rid of all of them save one, it would be this newcomer. The playing, with the correct vintage instrumentation Ravel would have heard, is sensational.
> View attachment 129793


Have to concur. This is the one! No sentimentality. No gloss. Just Ravel.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I'll stick with this one.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Just so long as we are talking about the complete version, the suites are for wimps.....
I've been studying the score for 30 years and am still finding wondrous moments.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

The 2nd suite is sure popular though, but too often the performance omits the wordless choir part which is so nice!


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Tchaikov6 said:


> Good ig but not imo Ravel's best work


'ig' ????????????????????????


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

mbhaub said:


> The 2nd suite is sure popular though, but too often the performance omits the wordless choir part which is so nice!


Yes, the choir gives the work a magical edge. 
His scoring is superb in this work, especially his string writing which displays such intricate, delicate and imaginative part writing - in fact the strings are mostly in a state of permanent divisi.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

It is Monteux I have enjoyed most but there are a good few others I like, too.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

mikeh375 said:


> ....His scoring is superb in this work, especially his string writing which displays such intricate, delicate and imaginative part writing - in fact the strings are mostly in a state of permanent divisi.


the woodwind writing is superb as well - esp the flutes....he also uses alto flute most effectively...it provides that low, misty tone quality...easily obscured, but Ravel provides the clarity in his scoring.


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2020)

I regard this ballet music by Ravel, apart from its sheer beauty and originality, also as a masterclass on orchestration. I'm going to have my breakfast now and put it on again!!


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Jacck said:


> it is a good work, probably would make it to my top100
> my favorite part is the Daybreak


Very much evokes the Siegfried Forest Murmurs, as I mentioned in another thread.


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