Hans Vonk’s view of La mer may be a bit lacking in sheer sensuality, but it’s immaculately played and vibrant–and it’s particularly nice to hear the outer movements taken swiftly, at tempos close to classic French interpretations such as those by Paul Paray or Jean Martinon. This, combined with some really powerful contributions from the St. Louis brass and percussion at the climaxes, makes for a memorable interpretation. Vonk’s Ravel, though, is comparatively flat, particularly in La valse, which seems never to get off the ground and resolutely fails to build to the necessary cataclysmic conclusion. The Roussel offers some beautiful details of instrumental color in its first half, but as with La valse the concluding minutes turn out to be underwhelming. In short, these are decent, subscription-night performances, but La mer aside, not the sort of thing that needed to be preserved on disc for general release.
