Kenneth Smith - Ravel; Boléro; Daphnis et Chloé - Suite No.2 / Debussy: La Mer (1990/2011)

Essentially a greatest-hits compilation packaged as an educational tool, Picture Disc: Ravel is not particularly enjoyable, valuable, or useful for adult listeners, teachers, or children. The second suite from Daphnis et Chloé, Boléro, and Rhapsodie espagnole -- performed by Henry Adolph and the Philharmonia Slavonica, Samo Hubad and the Ljubljana Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Milan Horvat and the ORF-Symphony Orchestra, respectively -- are only adequate, with decent playing and average sound quality. Violinist Oliver Colbentsen and pianist Erich Appel deliver the Pavane pour une infante défunte and the Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré with more than a little ardor, and the sound on both pieces is abnormally boosted. The eight-page booklet gives only morsels of information about the composer and his works, but general descriptions of the orchestra, the instruments, the conductor's role, Romanticism, and Impressionism are also included, with some faint, tiny pictures of musical instruments tossed in to fill in the blank spaces. Most misleading is the "picture disc" itself, which is merely an audio CD with Ravel's face on the label, not a CD-ROM. If this unexceptional product stimulates any interest in Ravel or classical music, then that is for the best. However, the buyer should be aware that this disc is much less than it seems.