Presto Recording of the Week
16th June 2023

Gramophone Magazine
August 2023
Editor's Choice

Isabelle Druet (Concepción), Julien Behr (Gonzalve), Loïc Félix (Torquemada), Thomas Dolié (Ramiro), Jean Teitgen (Don Iñigo Gomez), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth

Ravel: L'heure Espagnole
Ravel: Boléro

Continuing their exploration of Ravel’s output, François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles offer us two works linked by his love of Spain.

Alongside the famous Bolero, which regains its original flavour here on period instruments, is Ravel’s first opera, which flirted with libertinism: though its outstanding cast consists entirely of native French-speakers, this caustic ‘Hour’ remains quintessentially Spanish.

"As in previous releases, the orchestral playing is exquisite, the strings silky, woodwinds perfumed, the trumpets (1930s Selmers) sweetly tangy, the trombones suggestively louche." - Gramophone Magazine, August 2023.