The Essential Recordings of Ravel’s Orchestral Works

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Maurice Ravel’s orchestral music is at once sensual and clear. Brilliant, luxuriously orchestrated, yet with a classical elegance. Here are 10 essential recordings of Ravel’s orchestral music—ranging from single CDs to box sets—listed in no particular order.

Fritz Reiner / Chicago Symphony Orchestra (RCA)

Fritz Reiner was born to conduct Ravel, though he recorded relatively little of his music. What survives, collected on this RCA disc with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from the 1950s, is of the highest quality. His interpretations of Valses Nobles et sentimentales and Rapsodie espagnole shimmer with refinement. The orchestral playing is rarely surpassed, and on the same disc you also get a superb performance of Debussy’s Ibéria.

Ernest Ansermet / Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Decca)

The Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet brings a unique authenticity to his Ravel performances from the 1950s and 60s. He knew the composer personally, and here it feels as though we are hearing the music exactly as it was meant to sound. There is a crystal clarity in his interpretations: details and nuances are carved out with precision, yet the overall impression convinces completely. His Ravel recordings have been reissued in several Decca editions.

Pierre Boulez / Cleveland Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon)

Pierre Boulez is one of my favorites in Ravel. He gives the music an inward, reflective glow, most striking on this Deutsche Grammophon album. It has an almost magical quality, with fragility and sensitivity of a rare kind. Here we find performances with the Cleveland Orchestra from 2002 of Le Tombeau de Couperin, Pavane, Menuet Antique, and the song cycle Shéhérazade with Anne-Sophie von Otter, alongside some works by Debussy.

Sergiu Celibidache / Münchner Philharmoniker (Münchner Philharmoniker Label)

Sergiu Celibidache’s approach to Ravel is in many ways quite unique. His interpretations are slower than usual, but the details emerge in an entirely new light. His Ravel album with the Münchner Philharmoniker featuring suites from Daphnis et Chloé, La Valse, and Le Tombeau de Couperin is warmly recommended for those open to more individual readings. Celibidache’s Ravel has a special magic that lingers long in the memory.

Charles Dutoit / Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Decca)

Charles Dutoit’s Decca box from the 1980s ranks among the very best in recent decades. The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal plays with exquisite finesse, and Dutoit’s interpretations are sublimely detailed and sensuously colored. Performances that could easily be a first choice, not least his poetic reading of Ma mère l’Oye.

Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra (Sony)

Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra left behind a number of fine Ravel recordings. Sony has gathered some stereo performances from the 1950s and 60s with outstanding sound and orchestral brilliance of the highest order. Particularly memorable are interpretations of Boléro, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Alborada del gracioso, La Valse, and the suite from Daphnis et Chloé.

Charles Munch / Boston Symphony Orchestra (RCA)

Charles Munch is among the greatest Ravel interpreters on record. With him, it is not only about elegance and subtlety, but also a passion that is unique. His 1955 RCA recording of Daphnis et Chloé is a classic, brimming with spontaneous energy.

Claudio Abbado / London Symphony Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon)

Claudio Abbado, with his instinct for orchestral balance, was undoubtedly the right man for Ravel. In the 1980s he recorded a series with the London Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon. Abbado’s readings are marked by refinement and underlying sensitivity. He brings out new layers in Ravel’s orchestration in a strikingly fresh way.

Herbert von Karajan / Berliner Philharmoniker (Deutsche Grammophon)

Herbert von Karajan conducted only a few Ravel works, but they remained part of his repertoire throughout his career. He excelled above all in Boléro, which under him takes on uniquely sensual, almost erotic undertones—far removed from the mechanical monotony of other interpretations. At his most sophisticated and shimmering in Ravel, he and the Berlin Philharmonic can be heard on an album that also includes Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé as well as Debussy’s La Mer and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune.

Pierre Monteux / London Symphony Orchestra (Decca)

Pierre Monteux premiered what may be Ravel’s greatest masterpiece, the ballet Daphnis et Chloé. He also made a classic recording of it with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1959 for Decca. It is still counted among the very best, with its blend of elegance, warmth, and virtuosity. A legendary performance with wonderfully pure and clear sound.

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