Thomas Allen - "Don Quichotte à Dulcinée" (Maurice Ravel)

A magnificent performance of Maurice Ravel's "Don Quichotte a Dulcinee" (Chanson romanesque, Chanson épique, Chanson à boire)

Thomas Allen accompanied by the great Geoffrey Parsons
Paris, 2 March 1981
(sound is a bit boxy, sorry about that)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Thomas
• Allen
• Geoffrey
• Parsons
• Maurice
• Ravel
• Don
• Quichotte
• Dulcinee

[Argyrakis]

3:26

[interpreterr]

@Argyrakis What about 3:26?

[Argyrakis]

@interpreterr my favourite moment in all three movements, just magical.

[interpreterr]

@Argyrakis Well, I wouldn't be able to pick one favourite moment, but I have to say your choice is very good indeed:)

[billyguns2]

I prefer Souzay, Van Dam and Siepi in this music; Allen here sounds too fey and "heady," too French! There is also a longer line to the phrases; my opinion. Allen has given us many wonderful things, of course. I see that I am NOT ALONE in my opinion if you read others' comments here, so don't send me death threats!

[interpreterr]

Gee, relax, who's said anything about death threats? And no need to stress you're not alone in your opinion - it would be rather boring if everybody had the same opinion about everything.

Anyway, I quite like your comment about this interpretation being too French :-)

[joubs99]

@billyguns2

Sorry Dude, If you look at the score, nobody respects it more than Allen, and his sound is perfect, cause if he was too in the head, he would never success the hard lines in the chanson romanesque or the chanson a boire ! I m french and I have to say Souzay IS really too french, plus Souzay doesn't respect the rythm at all, so the meaning is lost. It s a shame.

[joubs99]

BEst version ever, Allen respects much more than anyone else the rythm and the meaning of the songs. I Love this, much better than Ramey and Van Dam, whereas I love van dam.

[bassfanne45]

@interpreterr You're always so polite and diplomatic in posting your opinions. I wish everyone on YouTube were like you. :-)

[leahnewyork]

I love both interpretations. This one is luscious and solidly so, The Souzay interpretation (that I am so grateful is posted here on youtube) offers the additional factor of visuals... which makes a difference to my ear. One can see phrases that aren't necessarily audible. Songs are theater after all. Wish we could see the performance of this Thomas Allen interp. Thanks for posting the audio!

[billyguns2]

Chacun a son gout.

[drtmuir]

@billyguns2 I too am often distressed at the tone musical discussions (especially about opera singers) can take, and wish people could take a broader view. But it just shows how deeply personal and deeply felt these things are. I've grown to believe that music, especially vocal music, must bypass the rational brain, and those feelings are so vivid to us that we can't believe others don't share them.

PS, I think this is incredibly gorgeous, esp. the last song.