Artist: Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Album: Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye, Le tombeau de Couperin & Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie
Genre: Classical
Release Date: 2018
Audio Format:: FLAC (tracks) 24 bit, 44,1 kHz
Duration: 56:21
Total Tracks: 17
Total Size: 493 MB

Tracklist:

1-01. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Prelude. Tres lent (03:05)
1-02. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Premier tableau: I. Danse du rouet et scene. Allegro (01:58)
1-03. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Interlude. Un peu moins anime (01:15)
1-04. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Deuxieme tableau: II. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant. Lent (01:38)
1-05. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Interlude. Plus lent (00:50)
1-06. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Troisieme tableau: III. Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bete. Mouvement de valse modere (04:00)
1-07. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Interlude. Lent (00:40)
1-08. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Quatrieme tableau: IV. Petit Poucet. Tres modere (03:32)
1-09. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Interlude. Lent (01:20)
1-10. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Cinquieme tableau: V. Laideronnette, imperatrice des pagodes. Mouvement de marche (03:24)
1-11. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Interlude. Allegro (01:07)
1-12. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Ma Mere l’Oye, M. 62: Apotheose. Le jardin feerique. Lent et grave (03:35)
1-13. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Sheherazade, ouverture de feerie, M. 17 (13:13)
1-14. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Le Tombeau de Couperin, M. 68a: I. Prelude. Vif (03:00)
1-15. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Le Tombeau de Couperin, M. 68a: II. Forlane. Allegretto (05:39)
1-16. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Le Tombeau de Couperin, M. 68a: III. Menuet. Allegro moderato (04:42)
1-17. Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth – Le Tombeau de Couperin, M. 68a: IV. Rigaudon. Assez vif (03:16)

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Recording Ravel’s music on period instruments is the kind of thing that might raise a smile… until you realise just how much the production of instruments has changed in less than a hundred years: it’s the return of catgut strings, skin drum heads, the French basson (and not the German system bassoon which is used across all the world’s orchestras today), shaper tips, trumpets and trombones of French manufacture. At the head of his orchestra Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth gives a new, orthodox, historically-informed version of Ma Mère l’oye (complete ballet), the Tombeau de Couperin and Shéhérazade, the long-neglected “ouverture de féérie” [Fairy Overture] which is pure Ravel. This return to the roots is clearly easier and more straightforwardly authentic for this period of music history, because, unlike earlier works, we possess recordings which date back to the 1920s, and even earlier, which can tell us about the style, the colours, the phrasing and the tempo.

But it isn’t enough just to have all this historical information to hand to make something interesting. What makes this record thrilling is that all the musicians in the Siècles are excellent, and François-Xavier Roth is a talented artist himself, who knows this music inside out. At which point, his complete recording of Stravinsky’s Firebird has already struck us with its quality. This rediscovery of Ravel resounds with clarity and finesse; it is a feast of well-defined timbres which cuts against the “beautiful sound” which prevails in orchestras around the world today.  –  François Hudry