London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergiev - Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (2010) Hi-Res

Music for the theatre has always formed a central part of Valery Gergiev s concert repertoire. Following up on his acclaimed recording of Prokofiev s Romeo & Juliet, LSO Live offers a new recording of Ravel s ballet Daphnis et Chloé. 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 choréographique and it is essentially an extended tone poem. Luscious orchestral colors run throughout the work, portraying the passion of the two protagonists for each other. By contrast, the Pavane pour une infante défunte, composed while Ravel was still a student of Gabriel Fauré, harks back to the simplicity of the eighteenth-century music of Rameau. Boléro, one of his final works, highlights the Spanish influences and passion that pervade so many of his works.