Charles Munch died shortly after these Ravel items were recorded, while on tour in the U.S.A. with the Orchestre de Paris in 1968. At no point do these versions seriously challenge his Boston recordings either in performance or sound quality, but they have their unique attractions. Boléro gains some three and a half minutes over the earlier version, becoming at 17 minutes one of the slowest on disc. Although the solo winds (saxophones!) don’t especially distinguish themselves, the result still sounds wonderfully sexy. Rapsodie espagnole lacks the precision and glitter of the Boston recording, and the Daphnis Suite No. 2 remains strangely earthbound, even in the final bacchanal, but its very relaxed and freely phrased Pantomime never fails to captivate in Munch’s hands.
The Honegger also has gained several minutes over Munch’s scorching mono Boston recording for RCA, mostly in the first movement (though it’s still a quick performance, relatively speaking). However, if the performance hasn’t Karajan’s polish, it nevertheless packs quite a wallop in its outer movements, with the trumpet in the final chorale perfectly integrated into the general string texture. It’s also been well remastered (as have the Ravel items), and registers with greater impact and contrapuntal clarity than on previous issues. Munch fans, of course, will want this disc as a matter of course, and for both Boléro and the Honegger, it certainly earns a welcome back into the regular catalog.
