{"product_id":"ravel-bolero-rapsodie-espagn","title":"RAVEL: BOLÈRO, RAPSODIE ESPAGN","description":"One wonders whether there will ever be a falling-off in the apparently insatiable desire of conductors and the record companies to give us yet more versions of these admittedly beautiful orchestral pieces by a French master; and one marvels too at the presumably similar appetite for this repertory on the part of the record-buying public, for whom Ravel now appears to be the classical composer par excellence in the way that Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov were two generations ago. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Still, there is room for a new issue of this quality. Michael Tilson Thomas brings a clear affection to the music but stops the right side of wearing his heart on his sleeve, so that phrases are caressed, not least in Ma mere l'oye, with a certain pudeur. In this work tempos are sometimes leisurely—the conversation between Beauty and the Beast is a minute slower than Abbado's more flowing performance for DG, but if this arguably brings a gain in expressive depth I am less attracted by a Rapsodie espagnole that feels self conscious and in which each movement lasts significantly longer than with Abbado. Still, here and elsewhere the LSO play most responsively; the Bolero is reliably exciting and the orchestral transcription of the Pike en forme de habanero (the one rarity here, with John Harle as the expressive saxophonist) is delightful.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -- Gramophone [5\/1989]\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"CBS Masterworks","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49606370689304,"sku":"074644480023","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/ravel-bolero-rapsodie-espagn","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}