Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra – Ravel: Orchestral Works (1974) [Reissue 2004] MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Every orchestra has a characteristic sound & personality that identifies them through the ages, & in the case of the Boston Symphony Orchestra it is their contoured string & wind elegance, panache & suavity that marks them out as the premier Francophone American orchestra. With Seiji Ozawa at the helm, a conductor much identified with French repertoire, these Quad recordings of Maurice Ravel, accomplished during his long tenure as music director, are afforded the sonic treatment they deserve & are now able to receive given the latest SACD technology employed by Pentatone enabling the release of the full spectrum of sound captured by a previous eras sound engineers.

For classical connoisseurs, multichannel recording is state-of-the-art reproduction, and they regularly seek out the finest recordings in the super audio format. Among those discs are some important discoveries from the past, including rare quadraphonic recordings from the 1970s that are being remastered for the new technology. Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra made these quadraphonic recordings of orchestral works by Maurice Ravel in 1974, and they were remastered in 2014 by PentaTone as part of an ongoing project to preserve these early experiments in multichannel sound. Ozawa had a magical touch with Ravel, and his performances with the BSO of Le tombeau de Couperin, Menuet antique, Ma mère l’oye, Valses nobles et sentimentales, and Une barque sur l’océan are among the most transparent interpretations of the period. What quadraphonic recording added were exceptional depth, crisp details, and ideal separation of the parts, so the brilliant solo and sectional writing in Ravel’s scores stood out with the clarity and presence of chamber music. This hybrid SACD can be played on SACD players and conventional CD equipment with stereo playback, but even with that limitation, the spatial dimensions of the orchestra come across with astonishing verisimilitude. Highly recommended as a sonic showcase of the highest quality.

Tracklist:

01. Le Tombeau de Couperin – Prélude
02. Le Tombeau de Couperin – Fugue
03. Le Tombeau de Couperin – Forlane
04. Le Tombeau de Couperin – Rigaudon
05. Le Tombeau de Couperin – Menuet
06. Le Tombeau de Couperin – Toccata
07. Menuet antique – Menuet antique
08. Ma Mere l’Oye – Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant
09. Ma Mere l’Oye – Petit Poucet
10. Ma Mere l’Oye – Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes
11. Ma Mere l’Oye – Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête. Mouvement de Valse Modéré
12. Ma Mere l’Oye – Le jardin féerique. Lent et grave
13. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Modéré – très franc
14. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Assez lent
15. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Modéré
16. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Assez animé
17. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Presque lent – dans un bentiment intime
18. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Assez vif
19. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Moins vif
20. Valses nobles et sentimentales – Elilogue (lent)
21. Une barque sur l’Océan – Très souple de rythme