RAVEL: “VALSES NOBLES ET SENTIMENTALES,” “LE TOMBEAU...

RAVEL: “VALSES NOBLES ET SENTIMENTALES,” “LE TOMBEAU DE COUPERIN,” ETC. Royal Philharmonic conducted by Andre Previn. Angel DS-38323 (digital). In this bounteous (67 minutes) collection, Previn makes his most evocative effect with the sinuous, Viennese-inflected “Valses nobles et sentimentales” and the delicate woodwind traceries of the Couperin suite. But the hot Spanish impulse behind the rest of the repertory sounds sporadic and diffuse. Previn mutes the colors of “Alborada,” inhibits the fragrance of the “Rapsodie” even with fine horn playing, the sludgy tempo of the “Pavane pour une infante defunte” never coheres into a single statement.