Debussy; La mer / Ravel; Rapsodie espagnole Orchestral & Concertos LSO Live

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“… what the LSO offers in this wonderful reading of Rapsodie espagnole is characterful first-desk soloists, sinuous string playing, and excellent recorded sound… Roth, who is the orchestra’s first-ever principal guest conductor, evokes the lightness and precision one identifies with French orchestras, and at a subtler level a suave cultivation of tone. Ravel almost invented slinkiness in classical music, but that side never turns cloying here, and the exciting, dramatic sections are given full scope… I’d say the prime virtue of Roth’s reading [ of Le Mer] is its nimbleness, although there is also a vivid color and aliveness. He creates sharper inflections in the finale than anyone else since Munch. Along with the Ravel, this is a reading that could be any collector’s first choice in modern sound…”

Huntley Dent – Fanfare – March/April 2021

Chosen by Times critics as one of the best Classical albums of 2020

The Times & Sunday Times – 10 December 2020

Excellent Album ****

Jacques Bonnaure – Classica magazine (France) – December 2020/ January 2021

“A sonic adventure! This impressive new release features three masterworks of French Impressionism by two of its greatest exponents, Debussy and Ravel, in superb SACD stereo sound using the latest high-density recording technology and conducted by one of today’s most charismatic and enterprising maestros, French conductor Francois-Xavier Roth…The real clincher is Debussy’s iconic La mer. Debussy’s immense achievement captures “the majesty and delicacy, fury and stillness, effervescence and power of the sea” and inspires Roth to give an extraordinary performance, careful attention to detail, stunning orchestral effects and an overall epic sweep with a very exciting ending.”

Janos Gardonyi – the wholenote.com – 4 December 2020

"... an impressive disc."

Barry Forshaw – cdchoice.co.uk – 8 November 2020

“Fine accounts from a master of this repertoire.”

Roy Westbrook – MusicWeb-International.com – 16 November 2020

Album of the Week

“… A disciple of Pierre Boulez, Roth has the same analytical clarity and ear for sonorities, but brings a surging emotional engagement to Debussy’s sea pictures, with gorgeous solo clarinet playing (Chris Richards) in the “dialogue of the wind and the sea” finale. Gareth Davies’s flute is no less charismatic as the protagonist of Debussy’s seminal sketch of a languid, provocative faun, while Roth relishes Ravel’s tribute to Spanish music — inherited from his Basque mother — in a flamboyant account, superlatively played, of Rapsodie espagnole. Outstanding.”

Hugh Canning – The Sunday Times (Culture magazine) – 8 November 2020

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