September 2018 marks the start of Robin Ticciati’s second season as Music Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the release of his second recording with his new orchestra.
The partnership’s critically acclaimed debut of Debussy and Fauré led MusicWeb International to comment: “[this] certainly whets the appetite for future releases from Robin Ticciati with the DSO Berlin.”
This second all-French programme sees Magdalena Kožená return to perform a selection of songs by Henri Duparc alongside orchestral music by his fellow countryman Maurice Ravel.
The popular Suite No. 2 from Ravel’s epoch-making ballet Daphnis et Chloé showcases Ticciati’s flair for highlighting intricacies of detail and colour; listen as the beautifully descriptive sunrise (Lever du jour) bursts into vivid, multi-hued life.
In Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales Ticciati creates a well-paced, yet graceful, Impressionist swirl with clearly defined textures and shimmering orchestral colours. Duparc’s mélodies, which Ravel himself described as “works of genius”, sound particularly opulent in their orchestral scoring; the warm tones of Kožená’s ravishing voice provide a perfect match.