Leonard Slatkin – Maurice Ravel: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5 (2017) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

The impact of Russian and Oriental culture on Ravel’s formative years retained a hold on him throughout his life. His colourfully re-orchestrated selections from Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite ‘Antar’ and opera Mlada, with interpolations of his own music, as the incidental score for a theatre production are heard here in their première recording, revived and reconstructed alongside a new text that symbolizes the romance and chivalric spirit of Antar the warrior-poet and his beloved Abla. Ravel’s fascination with the exotic is brought together with Debussy’s influence in the ravishing and enduringly popular song cycle Shéhérazade

this is a useful first recording of what is an intriguing historical curiosity. – the guardian

Tracklist:

01. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 1a, Le désert n’est pas vide
02. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 1b, Allegro
03. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 2, En ce temps-là
04. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 3, Sa mère, Zébiba
05. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 5, Sa renommée grandissait avec lui
06. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 6, Un jour, il fut convoqué par son père
07. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 7, Allegretto
08. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 8, Cette bataille
09. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 9, Ses poèmes l’ont rendu célèbre
10. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 10, Allegro
11. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 11a, Allegro risoluto alla marcia
12. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 11b, C’était une journée en apparence paisible
13. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 12, Antar n’écoutait plus
14. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 13, Puis il y eut encore une bataille
15. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 14, En atteignant la plaine
16. Antar (After N. Rimsky-Korsakov): No. 16, C’était le crépuscule
17. Shéhérazade: No. 1, Asie
18. Shéhérazade: No. 2, La flûte enchantée
19. Shéhérazade: No. 3, L’indifférent