Ernest Ansermet - Ravel: Bolero/ La Valse/ Honegger: Pacific 231

This is in every way an outstanding issue. The recording is superlative and musically this is one of the best discs we have had from Ansermet. The Sorcerers Apprentice is relaxed and yet has a cumulative effect: one has the real feeling of calamity before the magician hurriedly returns at the end to put aright the mischief his apprentice has wrought. Bolero too, has this feeling of cumulative power and the recording, superbly smooth and vivid in L'apprenti Sorcier, here shows that it can accommodate the utmost dynamic range without any discoloration. La Valse (always a piece Ansermet did well) is equally good, spectacular and atmospheric at the same time. The power of the mighty engine of Pacific 231 is marvelously conveyed, and its surging lyricism too; and the grinding tension of the final braking gives this mechanical monster an almost human personality.