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The conducting of Simon Rattle is the most compelling element in this recording of Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges with the Berlin Philharmonic. Rattle draws playing of great delicacy and nuance from the orchestra, and the many sections that are scored as lightly as chamber music are played with especially loving attention to shaping the elegant and expressive phrases; the beginning of the second part of the opera is especially magical. The international cast, though, which includes a number of internationally acclaimed stars, doesn't have the easy fluency with the material of a French cast, such as the ones assembled for Lorin Maazel's or Ernest Ansermet's versions, where the droll wit of Ravel's sly text setting really sparkles. Magdalena Kozená as the Child, and José van Dam and Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, each in an assortment of roles, are fully successful in putting the music across, but many of the remaining singers, fine as they are, come across as somewhat studied and miss the fun of Ravel's score. Rattle brings the same finesse and careful attention to detail to Ma Mère l'Oye as he does to the opera, and the Berlin Philharmonic responds with a spirited and graceful performance. EMI's sound is clean and present.© TiVo

Given the number of very fine recordings of Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, it's perhaps surprising that one of the very finest, most stylish, and idiomatic performances should have its roots firmly planted in the American heartland. Alastair Willis, leading the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, members of the Nashville Symphony Chorus, members of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and the Chattanooga Boys Choir, conjures up a truly magical version of the opera. This is the result of a happy confluence of all the necessary elements: exceptional soloists who may not yet be international superstars, but who sing beautifully and are fully invested in bringing their roles to life; a thoroughly responsive chorus, exquisite orchestral playing, extraordinarily fine, nuanced engineering; and above all, Willis' loving attention the details of the score and his ability to bring an exhilarating musical and dramatic coherence to an opera that in lesser hands can seem quaintly episodic. This is a version of the opera that is brightly colored, whose incidents are dramatically charged and larger-than-life, just as they would be experienced from the perspective of The Child. Willis fully exposes the gift for humor that Ravel demonstrates in his brilliant and occasionally wacky orchestration and choral and solo writing. About half of the young singers who, judging from their bios, seem poised on the cusp of significant careers, are French Canadian, which probably accounts for the idiomatic authenticity of the performance, which easily outstrips that of some far more famous international casts. The choruses bring just the right loopy abandon to their depiction of the various groups of animals without ever stepping over the line into caricature, and their final madrigal is absolutely ravishing. The disc is filled out with an equally vivid performance of Schéhérazade, featuring a radiant, shimmering performance by mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne, who also plays The Child in the opera. The sound is fabulous. Apart from a brief balance problem in the first few measures of the opera, where the string bass' harmonics under the oboe duet sound tentative and are barely audible, details of orchestration pop out with sometimes startling, but entirely appropriate vividness. Highly recommended. © TiVo

Conductor Seiji Ozawa followed his teacher, Charles Munch, as a primary exponent of the French conducting tradition in America, and it is a pleasure to have this release marking his 80th birthday after several years of illness. In a trio of Ravel works he is graceful, attentive to small detail, and even a bit mischievous. Ravel's comic, one-act opera L'enfant et les sortilèges is less often performed outside of the Francophone world, and this live performance from the 2013 Matsumoto Festival in Japan, with the Saito Kinen Orchestra (perhaps new to most non-Japanese audiences) and SKF Matsumoto Chorus and Children's Chorus, marks Ozawa's first recording of the work. The soloists are Western: Isabel Leonard as the Child in Colette's text is lively and not overly cute. The work is beautifully balanced by the short song cycle Shéhérazade, as lushly beautiful as anything Ravel ever wrote, with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham delivering a deeply sensual "Asie" (sample track 26). The final Alborada del gracioso is pure Ozawa, precise and elegant. Highly recommended.© TiVo

The gestation of this project lasted two years. Anna Prohaska and Julius Drake finally concentrated their research on the themes of Eve, Paradise and banishment. Some songs were obvious choices, such as Fauré’s Paradis, in which God appears to Eve and asks her to name each flower and animal, or Purcell’s Sleep, Adam, sleep with its references to Genesis. But Anna Prohaska also wished to illustrate the cliché of the woman who brought original sin into the world and her status as a tempter who leads man astray, as in Brahms’s Salamander, Wolf’s Die Bekehrte or Ravel’s Air du Feu. In Das Paradies und die Peri, Schumann conjures up the image of Syria’s rose-covered plains. Bernstein also transports us to the desert with Silhouette.. John Milton’s seventeenth-century masterpiece Paradise Lost was the inspiration for Charles Ives and Benjamin Britten, also featured in this very rich programme that constitutes an invitation to travel and reflection. © Alpha Classics

Ensemble Perspectives, an a cappella vocal quintet founded and directed by Geoffroy Heurard, creates programmes that blend the mainstream classical repertory with lesser-known composers and folk and pop songs. These pieces are sung in transcriptions "tailor-made" for Perspectives, which works with world-renowned arrangers and composers of all aesthetic persuasions. The group’s new album, entitled "Playlist", allows today’s ears to grasp the timeless threads that link Purcell to Brahms, a traditional song to an American song crooned by entire generations. A playful and inspired journey through the music of Purcell (Dido’s Lament), Brahms, Ravel and Fauré, traditional songs such as Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and Frère Jacques, and songs Paul Simon (Mrs. Robinson and 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover) and Tom Waits (Alice). © Outhere Music

Elle is Marina Rebeka's fourth solo album, celebrating the diversity of the female roles in some of the greatest French Opera arias of the canon. From a sweet recounting of the pleasures of love in Charpentier's Louise, to the steely determination of Juliette in Gounod's last scene, passing through the new-found piety of Thaïs, Carmen's indomitably wild character, Chimène's extreme sadness in Le Cid, and Marguerite’s transformation from an innocent girl in love into a woman longing for a man who will not return, these and the many more arias that fill this recording explore the emotional spectrum of the female roles in French Opera. A perfect modern introduction to French Opera for the new listener as well as a valuable addition to the library of the connoisseur, Elle showcases the extraordinary art of Marina Rebeka, one of the most complete sopranos of our times, with not only a unique vocal prowess and range but with unusually deep interpretative powers, making each aria come to life in a new way. Elle is a studio recording featuring the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen (Switzerland) conducted by Michael Balke. © Prima Classic