*****
This is not just any Ravel disc: it has the authority of the great Ravel conductors of yore, but modern sound

È RAVEL La valse. Rapsodie espagnole. Alborada del grazioso. Boléro. Pierre Bleuse, cond; Odense SO OUR RECORDINGS 8.226944 (52:56) Reviewed from WAV files: 24-bit, 44.1 kBps.
Perhaps best known for his activity in cutting-edge contemporary music as head of the famous and fabled Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Bleuse is also Principal Conductor of the Odense Symphony. It is with the latter that he presents the itinerant Ravel, in a recording from OUR that is surely second to none. The level of detail is off the scale, and yet there is atmosphere there; the sound has space to register, to exist within.
Both La valse and Boléro begin from nothing and move. Inexorably, to the light. But La valse’s opening is full of disquieting half-lights; the conductor, nevertheless, must ensure all of the detail is audible. Bleuse achieves this tightrope magnificently. The waltz, when it comes into focus, is slinky, even sexy. There is all of the anticipation and the excitement of a live performance here, but with the microscopic levels of detail and balance available in the studio. It is a coveted mix indeed, and so rarely achieved.
There is no missing the jazz elements to Bleuse’s Boléro. The percussion playing is out of this world, the pervasive rhythm so accurate, against which the melody can, and sometimes does, swing. The Odense Symphony must have one of the creamiest trombones (and what fabulous slide glissando). When the wind choir enters, the first true en masse entry, there have been doublings previously, the effect is like that of a fairground organ (albeit probably the best one you’ve ever heard). In many ways, it is one of the most significant of Boléro recordings, honoring Ravel’s daring, heard in scoring, monothematicism, and even harmony (that shift just before the end is given completely unapologetically).
The Albordad del grazioso begins with forensically recorded strings. It is highly involving, Ravel’s doublings so clear. The individuality of the woodwind is completely on display, too, each timbre clear. Bleuse ensures fortissimos do not obscure Ravel’s finely-wrought scoring one jot; he also relishes Ravel’s use of gesture, harp whooshes of sound enervating to a rare degree. The Odense principal bassoon (there is no listing of personnel, alas) is superb here; but mostly it is Bleuse’s complete understanding of Ravel’s machinations that is so impressive. The music builds at times inexorably; only retrospectively does one remember that, for example, first violin turns were preternaturally together. A terrific performance, the last chord balanced superbly and yet fulfilling its effect brilliantly.
It is interesting to compare this, a Danish orchestra conducted by a French conductor, with Hans Rosbaud and the SWR orchestra (released on Haenssler, a1957 recording). Vibrant hardly covers it; Rosbaud ensured electricity runs like a power line under the lyrical moments; all traits that he shares with Bleuse.
Finally (although second in the program) is Rapsodie espagnole, opening in a shroud of mystery in the “Prélude à la nuit,” the violins beautifully sweet, the pacing perfect. Bleuse’s performance of Ravel’s string and wind scoring at the opening of "Malagueña” has been equaled but never netter; even more impressive is his achievement of split-second juxtaposition of material. The half-lights of the “Habanera” register wonderfully, while the melodic lines have a fabulously Spanish accent. The evenness of the opening of “Feria” is remarkable; the build-up is as carefully scaled as that of the Boléro and La valse, the languorous middle section as misty as any scene with, say, a faune. The detail is astonishing (listen to the percussion’s contribution), and the final gesture seems to point in the direction of Varèse in its audacity.
A simply astonishing disc, produced to the very highest of standards. The Odense orchestra sounds like a first-tier global ensemble. This is not just any Ravel disc: it is like having the authority of the great Ravel conductors of yore (Ansermet, Monteux, Munch), but couched in flawless modern sound. Want List material, without a shadow of a doubt. Colin Clarke

Colin Clarke is a freelance Classical Music Journalist. Master's Degree focused in Analytical Musicology from King's College London and a BMus (Hons) from the University of Surrey.