The Daphnis Second Suite here is separate to/not extracted from Ansermet’s complete stereo version (there’s a mono, too); no choir, anyway. Consistent to Ansermet’s Daphnis recordings (including an NHK Suite Two) is the prominence given to trumpets (at 4:24 on this occasion), a thrilling moment rarely brought out like this, and immediately persuasive. Given Ansermet conducted the work for ballet performances, he would have known the detailed scenario; maybe it’s the moment when the named couple are reunited; whatever, it’s certainly made significant from Ansermet, yet hardly registers on (the work’s first conductor) Pierre Monteux’s LSO/Decca version.
Stereo Ansermet – records Ravel for Decca with OSR. Released June 1961 – CS6210 in the US; SXL2273, UK.
