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4.0 out of 5 stars
So, why do I like it?, Jul 25 2000
There's a lot wrong here: Martinon, before the wrong orchestra. So, why do I like it? Probably because Martinon didn't take the first thing that came to him and did some work to turning the orientation of these performances toward Paris. It makes a lot of difference. And it's wonderful listening.But, unlike the previous reviewer, I think this is rather a well-done compromise and can't really fulfill the French performance paradigms that Martinon sought. The EMI recordings with the Orchestre de Paris show the conductor uncovering a lot of color, elan, and that ascerbic, Gallic nastiness that's essential to Ravel and totally, and I mean totally, lacking in this issue. However, it's the best that any French conductor has recorded in Chicago. But that's the key word: recorded. I have a sneaking suspicion that the storied concerts by Paul Paray may have gone some way beyond this, and his recordings on Mercury with the Detroit Symphony carefully trained in the French style give you spades more in color, character, drama, and rive gauche than you'll ever get a whiff of here. Buy this, but as supplemental listening to Martinon's Paris work, and file all of that just behind your Paray editions.
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