Ravel: Orchestral Works; Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony

Gerard Schwarz's quarter of a century-plus as music director of the Seattle Symphony came to an end in 2011. His successor, Frenchman Ludovic Morlot, now makes his recorded debut with the orchestra in four CDs on the orchestra's new, in-house label. The emphasis is heavily French, Dutilleux, Fauré, and this coupling of popular Ravel (Alborada del gracioso, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Rapsodie espagnole) and Saint-Saëns (the Organ Symphony) shows the orchestra to be fully at home in the conductor's native repertoire. The music- making is refined and temperate. Yet the sensuality and colour of Ravel are never undersold, and the highly original textures of the Saint-Saëns sound freshly minted. url.ie/u3lq