RAVEL: ORCHESTRAL WORKS. Orchestre de la Suisse...

RAVEL: ORCHESTRAL WORKS. Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armin Jordan, conductor. Erato NUM 75201. Jean Martinon has shown us what driving tension the famous “Bolero” may possess. Here that tension is absent. There are no slight undulations of volume in the mesmerizing beat, no gradual acceleration in speed from the whispered beginning to the wild ending. This “La Valse” lacks the verve needed to sweep the listener from mists and vapors to the chandeliers and dancers of the Viennese Imperial Court, which Ravel wished to evoke.