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----Original Message----- From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Don Cox Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 3:12 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Bolero by Ravel the definitive version? On 06/08/03, Mike Richter wrote: > To my knowledge, there is no one performance which can be considered > definitive of this or any other substantial work. For example, one > might consider Stravinsky's recordings of his own music "definitive" > except that the 'definition' changes as his interpretation varies in > different recordings of the same work. There may be several excellent recordings of a major work available, but there are often also several which for one reason or another are not very good. For a person getting to know a piece for the first time, a fairly "straight" performance in reasonably modern sound will be best. For example, I would not direct a beginner to Furtwangler or Mengelberg, or even to Toscanini. Their great but personal performances, in sound which does present a barrier, are better appreciated when you already know the piece fairly well, IMO. Ravel's Bolero is a special case as it is really a technical exercise which needs no interpretation, just accurate playing. Regards -- Don Cox [log in to unmask] Well, perhaps I should point out that Kurtz Myers started a "Record Ratings" section in the Music Library Association's "Notes". A accumulation of some of those was produced in a book by Crown Publishers entitle "Record Ratings". I don't know if that has been continued, but someone in a music library could point to these ratings (how the reviewers rated a particular recording) and these could help. With regard to Stravinsky's work, "The Fairy's Kiss" performance by the Mexico City Orchestra with Stravinsky conducting has been sought after, because in an interview Stravinsky said he thought it was the best rendition of the piece (at least at the time.) However, there were apparently only two extant recordings available and one was broken in trying to dub onto tape, which led to a flurry of research to replace it back in 1965-66.