Ravel's "Bolero"....which recording is best?

hey, just wondering which recording of this amazing tune is everyone's favourite?

thx!

 

I'm rather partial to Tomita's wonderfully OTT version. But do you mean 'orchestral'?

 

Munch, BSO, RCA Red Seal, '63....open sound, very dynamic and invigorating, keeps building steam until the conclusion. A must, but not on CD, AFAIK....

 

It may not be technically "the best," but I'm partial to the Sony SACD of Boulez conducts Ravel. Cat # SS 89121

 

Jeff Beck??

 

Munch from '56 is great, but my favorite is Martinon with The Orchestre De Paris (from 70s, can't remember the exact year). It's also available in DVD-A. It probably isn't the best sounding Bolero, but I like the performance.

 

I have no particular recordings to recommend, but if you're a stickler for the composer's original intentions, be aware that most renditions of "Bolero" are faster than what Ravel had in mind. When played at the correct tempo, the piece runs about 17 minutes; most of the recordings out there run about 14 minutes.

 

Is this also an SACD?

 

Yes,
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6810740&style=music&cart=315296721&BAB=E

 

Paavo Jarvi's interpretation of Bolero in Telarc SACD lasts only 10 minutes or so...must be one of the "fastest" Boleros out there.

 

This 1994 recording with Pierre Boulez:
http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000001GLO/ref=br_lf_m_13/303-6152535-7276208

 

I like the LP, London ffrr CS 7033 (May '76), Sir Georg Solti-Bolero (The Chicago Symphony Orchestra) 14:40

 

That sounds closer to the tempo of a rock ballad to me.

 

And the Debussy "Images" (coupled with "Bolero", along with "La Valse" and "Rapsodie Espagnole") is at least as good. An essential disc, on both the SACD and Redbook layers. Great sound.

 

The recent MFSL hybrid SACD of the 1975 Skrowaczewski/Minnesota Orchestra recording has a running time of 17:22 for Bolero. It's the only version I'm aware of that matches that time frame (there are probably others).

 

Agreed. There's a colorful ruthlessness to Boulez' reading that brings out many layers of meaning in that deceptively straightforward piece. Beautiful wind playing too. Boulez can be astringent, but I find his approach brings out the interestingly fierce quality in Ravel's very sensuous musical vocabulary.

 

I am really partial to the Andre Previn conducted version released on Angel Digital (lp) in '81 or '82.

 

excellent, thx for the leads!!

 

As a reference, the 1930 Polydor recording of Boléro with Ravel conducting the Orchestre Lamoureux runs 16:09 in William Malloch's transfer (Pendulum PEN 001). The day before his own recording, Ravel had been present when Piero Coppola made the work's first recording, for the Gramophone Company. Coppola was not quite as steady as the composer, speeding up a bit for the last side (15:45 on EMI 5 65499 2, transferred by Andrew Walter).

I prefer the slower tempo, but to be fair, it seems (according to Malloch) the composer's original metronome mark was eighth note = 76. He later revised this to 72, wrote "66" in his own conducting score, and in his recording takes it at about 63!

The slowest performance I've heard of (but never heard myself, alas) is a broadcast by the NDR Hamburg orchestra conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt which is said to last all of nineteen minutes! Meanwhile, I'll recommend the Skrowaczewski, and while I think Munch is too fast, I can agree that everything else on his disc is superb.

 

This one is killer:
MFSL hybrid SACD of the 1975 Skrowaczewski/Minnesota Orchestra

and the Munch Living Stereo

 

MUTI (EMI Angel)
It also comes with 1812 Overture (with no choir) and Les Preludes
The CD came out around 1984. Haven't seen it in a store since back then.