Acclaim for Robert Trevino's Ravel album with the Basque National Orchestra (16.06.2021)


The rising American conductor's second recording for Ondine, following their Beethoven cycle, has been lauded with accolades. And the next release will see Trevino again paired with the Basque National Orchestra

 

Robert Trevino's second outing with Ondine Records, a distinctly Basque view of Ravel, as presented by the fast-rising American conductor and the Basque National Orchestra – of which he is Music Director – has been greeted with a plethora of positive reviews and no fewer than five 'best of' picks.

It has been named 'Disque du jour' by Radio France Musique; the month's 'Critic's Choice'by the leading Japanese magazine Record Geijutsu; Recording Of The Month by Australia's leading arts magazine Limelight; Recording Of The Week by Australia's ABC Classic (radio); and made Apple Music's 'Best New Classical Releases' chart. In addition it has received sterling reviews from BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, Diapason, Scherzo and elsewhere.

Here is a round-up of what the critics have been saying about the Ravel album:

"Magnificent album. Trevino and his colleagues bring a fresh eye to the vibrant colours of Alborado del gracioso in a thrilling performance, and their atmospheric survey of the wonderful Rapsodie espagnole ranks as one of the best this reviewer has heard. Esplendido!"
– Limelight, Recording Of The Month (issue out 21st June)

"Great beauty! Our Recording Of The Day!"
– France Musique, Disque du Jour

"Lively rhythm, ductile singing, detailed craftsmanship and high density expression"
– Record Geijutsu, Critics' Choice June 2021

"Ravel's music (is) coming home with this recording, with the Basque National Orchestra conducted by Robert Trevino...The Basque country is where Ravel was born and...there's something extra in these performances, something different that you don't get anywhere else."
– ABC Classic, Featured Album of the Week

"(This album) showcases the orchestra’s sumptuous sound, while Ravel's most famous work, “Bolero,” brings the curtain down with a display of mesmerizing rhythmic control and a final surge of euphoria."
– Apple Music, Best New Classical Releases June 2021

"One might expect some special insights from the Basque National Orchestra. Under its young Mexican-American Music Director Robert Trevino, the discipline and quality of the playing is immediately evident in La valse, as is the energy with which they work up the final frightening climax of the piece – or indeed, the ebulliently dancing and surging last pages of the Rapsodie espagnole...the care Trevino brings to details and dynamics...(in Bolero, he builds) the orchestral texture with implacable steadiness until to its fatalistic climax, without a hint of vulgarity."
– BBC Music Magazine

"Trevino and his players find all the half-lights and illicit sighs (in this music), bewitching and lascivious...or darkly masculine...even the most beguiling passages sound red-blooded - and that is entirely to Trevino and the orchestra's credit...(And) that very real sense of kinship between conductor and players is tangible."
– Gramophone

"Ravel, from players who ought to have these sounds in their blood...the orchestra's pride and passion in the music and its feel for the rhythms underpinning it comes across strongly.."
– BBC Radio 3, 'Record Review'

"Trevino channels with particular ferocity the tragic emotions of La valse, exuberant release in Alborada del gracioso, and he powerfully summons the swells in Une barque sur l'ocean. (In Bolero), Trevino highlights its rhythmic nature as set against the vertigo of its extraordinary crescendo, reminding (us) that, no matter how numerous the recordings dedicated to these pieces are, in Ravel there are always nuances yet to discover."
– Scherzo

These follow many similarly excellent reviews for the Beethoven cycle (with the Malmo Symphony Orchestra). Trevino's next project with Ondine will also be with the Basque National Orchestra - a survey of little-known American masterpieces, including a world premiere recording, due out later this year.

As well as being the Basque National Orchestra's Music Director, Trevino was recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, and is Artistic Advisor of the Malmo Symphony Orchestra.



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