# Great Ravel Conductors



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

It's Maurice Ravel's birthday, as is being noted on another thread. Does his music 'play itself' as some would allege with Beethoven? Or does he require a Conductor and Orchestra that is really attuned to his idiom?
Toscanini, imo, was incandescent in the Second Daphnis Suite--but famously incurred the Composer's rath when he raced through Bolero. What about Karajan? Did the man who brutalized Debussy with his "Das Mer" fare any better in Ravel? 
Or does a great Ravel Conductor need to be French (or Suiss/French, as was the Composer's own heritage, and that of Charles Dutoit)? And if it is a French Conductor that is preferred, should they have the clarity of Boulez? The passion of Jean Martinon? The fire in the belly of Paul Paray?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

The elegance of Carlo Maria Giulini


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Boulez, Dutoit, Munch, Martinon, Abbado


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

In no particular order:

Charles Munch.

Pierre Monteux.

Ernest Ansermet.

Jean Martinon.

Bernard Haitink.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Has to be French! Or least the French did it better in my opinion. Dutoit's versions are essential, and nobody does it better in these: Mother Goose, Pavane, Tombeau, in terms of colour and elegance. (Daphnis and Chloe, and Bolero work ok with other conductors too, like Karajan). For the Piano Concerto in G, it has to be a French pianist: Samson Francois. Above all: It has to be recorded or performed in France or Quebec, and the people providing the drinks during the breaks have to speak French.


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## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

This recording is unbeatable.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

starthrower said:


> Boulez, Dutoit, Munch, Martinon, Abbado


I would add Andre Cluytens


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Becca said:


> The elegance of Carlo Maria Giulini


I have to admit, never heard Giuliani in Ravel. Intriguing.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

WildThing said:


> This recording is unbeatable.


I tend to agree, Wild Thing. I had bought one of the big Decca reissue boxes that has an incredible remaster of this old favorite.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Do we have no love for Paul Paray? Being a native of the Motor City, many of my first Ravel and Debussy recordings were the old Mercury lps with Paray and the DSO. Ok, the Detroit Symphony wasn't in the same league as the Boston Symphony, and Charles Munch was no slouch as a Conductor, but Paray was pretty special. He was French to the core but no dawdling over the bouillabaisse; his Impressionists had an Endoskeleton, not just some gauzy haze ( I'm looking at you, Celi). Martinon was much of the same, with more emphasis on color, which worked better in Chicago than with the third Rate French Orchestras he finished his career with


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Yan Pascal Tortelier is an excellent Ravel conductor, one of my favorites. His recording of Ravel's two piano concertos are wonderful (with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as soloist). He's not a "great" conductor with other composers, but his Ravel recordings are some of the best.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Triplets said:


> I have to admit, never heard Giuliani in Ravel. Intriguing.


You can hear two examples, Ma Mere l'Oye & Rapsodie Espagnole, from his years in Los Angeles


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Boulez, Dutoit, Munch, Martinon and some early Haitink on Philips recordings.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Tchaikov6 said:


> Yan Pascal Tortelier is an excellent Ravel conductor, one of my favorites. His recording of Ravel's two piano concertos are wonderful (with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as soloist). He's not a "great" conductor with other composers, but his Ravel recordings are some of the best.


Tortelier was a great French Music conductor. I had to buy his Socerers's Apprentice and Espana at full price when I heard them.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Reiner is my overall favorite, but Martinon is right up there too...Monteux and Boulez are good too...Bernstein and Munch can be very good...but inconsistent....they sometimes lose control...get too excited. Ravel needs control, even, esp when wild!!


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Ansermet is my man here!!


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