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| Like the music or not, you have to admit the album cover's got style. |
Proper classical critics never ask the juicy questions, like:
Who was a better French composer: Maurice Ravel or Hector Berlioz?
Luckily, I am not a proper classical critic and thus have no qualms about comparing the two composers, whose lives never overlapped.
Berlioz, of course, is most famous for his “Symphonie Fantastique” and Ravel for works like “Bolero” and “Sheherezade.” The two men wrote in different styles, in different eras. It’s like comparing Alice Cooper to Mozart or something.
Maybe it’s unfair. But a comparison between Ravel and Berlioz seems inevitable, when the former’s “Bolero” is placed on the same album as two Berlioz overtures: “Corsair” and “Benvenuto Cellini.”
I have to admit – and this is no fault of the recording itself – “Bolero” doesn’t interest me much. Conductor Charles Munch and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra do what they can with limited material, playing the single melody from a single woodwind to a majestic finale with the full sound of the orchestra. But it takes a long time to get from point A to point B, and the journey doesn’t take enough interesting detours.
Again, I blame the source material; “Bolero” was written as a single melody, so conductors had to do what they could to stretch it to an appropriate length (in this case, just over 16 ½ minutes). Ravel may have been ahead of his time with this piece; I bet “Bolero” would make a great basis for an electronica piece.
Side two features the two Berlioz overtures, starting with “Benvenuto Cellini.” Both it and “Corsair” have greater range in mood, though both pieces are shorter than “Bolero.” That’s to be expected from an overture, I suppose, but both work well as stand-alone pieces. Here’s a sample from “Benvetnuto Cellini:”
Despite the scratchiness of the album, the songs are in pretty good shape. The strings stand out in particular on “Corsair,” which has a wonderfully playful bit featuring the strings and brass toward the end:
From what I can tell, this recording of “Bolero” by Charles Munch and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra dates to 1954, according to a University of California-Davis website detailing the orchestra’s chronology and discography. But it must have been recorded before then. Another website indicates Munch was conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra starting in 1949 and was conductor of the Paris Conservatory Orchestra from 1938 to 1946.
So I’m inclined to think this particular recording dates to before 1950, even if the packaging comes from later.
Finding copies is tough, unless you happen upon the LP, as I did. Amazon has several CDs and mp3s featuring “Bolero” with Munch as conductor. A British website has copies of Munch conducting the Paris Conservatory Orchestra on The Corsair Overture. But I would look for the vinyl copy if you’re really interested in this particular recording of these particular pieces.
In my opinion, it’s even suitable for framing.
