A century to the day after the orchestra’s first concert on 24th October 1919, the centennial season culminate in a baton-waving conductor’s summit at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with Dudamel, Mehta and Salonen sharing the podium. The repertoire is a true reflection of the DNA that makes the LA Phil the LA Phil. If you’re wondering why the New York Times recently called the LA Phil “America’s most important orchestra. Period.”, look no further than this concert’s program: Ravel’s La Valse conducted by Zubin Mehta; Lutoslawski’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; Strawinsky’s Firebird Suite conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and the World Premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s
New Work for Three Conductors!
A breathtaking all-Ravel program with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly to celebrate the orchestra’s 15th anniversary. Founded in 2003 by Claudio Abbado, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra quickly grew into much more than “just” another festival orchestra. The incredible clarity and intensity of this orchestra, the wonderful timbres that make it so extraordinary – there is no program more suitable for experiencing and showcasing its uniqueness than the concert with works by Maurice Ravel. “That ballet music is a precursor of film music is seldom heard as directly as in the long camera shots through wide and whirling soundscapes.” Luzerner Zeitung PROGRAM Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales; La Valse; Daphnis et Chloé – Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Boléro
On April 29, 2016, Zubin Mehta will celebrate his 80th birthday. On April 17, however, he will offer himself a birthday present of his own, together with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which has appointed him Musical Director for Life. The event will take place in the new National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mehta’s birthplace, Mumbai, in India.
It will be a celebratory concert with works by three of Mehta’s favorite composers: The program will include Dvoráks “Carnival Overture”, Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 61 as well as Ravels’ “La Valse” and the second suite of “Daphnis & Chloé”. Pinchas Zukerman, one of Mehta’s closest colleagues – who has also always had a close connection to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra – will be the soloist.
Night: it can be dreamy or comforting, but sometimes it’s frightening, full of dark secrets. So it’s no great surprise that the long hours of darkness, often spent awake, have inspired so many composers to write some of their most touching works: Chopin’s dreamy Nocturnes, for example, Schumann’s dainty “Nachtstücke” or Ravel’s spinechilling cycle “Gaspard de la nuit”, populated by sinister figures and dark premonitions. In his piano recital at the Imperial Hall at the Würzburg Residence, the young Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, brings the spirits of the night, both good and evil, to life; in his hands, Ravel’s goblin “Scarbo” dances and the water sprite “Ondine” swims through the waves, dangerously seductive.
Accentus Music recorded Gabriela Montero playing her Piano Concerto No.1, the “Latin Concerto”, as well as Ravel’s Piano Concerto together with the pan-American YOA Orchestra of the Americas under the baton of Carlos Miguel Prieto. The performance took place in one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world: the Teatro del Lago in Frutillar, Chile. With her 1st piano concerto, Gabriela Montero extends an invitation to share in a multi-layered and passionate expression of her beloved, native continent. Additionally, the rehearsals have been filmed as well as impressions of country and people of this region. In an accompanying interview, Montero spoke about composing, improvisation and the interpretation of her own works. She also talked about her home country Venezuela, where she no longer performs for political reasons.
The Concertgebouw Orchestra, conductor Klaus Mäkelä and two of the orchestra’s soloists transport you to distant worlds. Fairy tales by Ravel and Bartók and two works by the contemporary sound wizard Guillaume Connesson: four pieces of music to take in visually. PROGRAM Ravel: Shéhérazade; Connesson: Les belles heures (oboe concerto, commission, Dutch premiere); Danses concertantes (flute concerto, commission, Dutch premiere); Bartók: music from ‘The Miraculous Mandarin’
The name Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995) is still inextricably linked with Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. The way Benedetti Michelangeli articulates the trill chains, for example, is considered unique. At the same time, Benedetti Michelangeli is a great mystery: he was notorious for his numerous cancellations. The smallest discrepancies on the instrument, a small change in the room climate from rehearsal to concert were enough to cancel a performance. His reputation, as one of the greatest of his guild, is undisputed. Pianist Krystian Zimerman remembers his artistic exchange with Benedetti Michelangeli. For Pierre-Laurent Aimard, the Italian pianist is a declared source of inspiration as a magician of acoustics. Serge Celibidache, the son of Sergiu Celibidache, provides insights into the special artistic friendship of the two perfectionists. While Marina Baranova goes in search of Benedetti Michelangeli’s grand piano in Bavaria, Cord Garben, his producer, remembers the not always easy collaboration. Jazz musician Stefano Bollani, an admirer of Benedetti Michelangeli, explains how the composer Ravel was inspired by jazz music.
Theodor Currentzis presents his new orchestra project „Utopia“ – and brings together 112 musicians from 22 nations. Outstanding musicians from international orchestras, the independent scene, soloists and chamber musicians come together to work on exemplary works of orchestral literature. The debut concerts of the new orchestra focus on refined and complex orchestral works of the early 20th century: Stravinsky‘s rarely performed third „Firebird“ suite from 1945, as well as the masterfully orchestrated second suite from „Daphnis et Chloé“ and the choreographic poem „La Valse“ by Maurice Ravel. All of the compositions exemplify the aesthetic thinking of the time. They are exquisite artefacts for demanding connoisseurs: The latest achievements in the art of orchestration, rousing dance rhythms and frenzied apotheoses stand for themselves. The „l‘art pour l‘art“ principle („art for art‘s sake“) is in the foreground here. In keeping with the orchestra‘s name, all three works thematize a form of the golden age: the ancient Greek pastoral („Daphnis et Chloé“), the Russian fairy-tale world („The Firebird“) and the Austrian imperial court in its heyday („La Valse“). PROGRAM Stravinsky: Firebird; Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, La Valse, Boléro
The Royal Concertgebouworkest is celebrating the new season with a grand gift to the city, the country and the world. On Friday 10 September, the Concertgebouworkest opens the 2021/2022 season with a festive concert open-air in the heart of Amsterdam – that evening, music sounds through the streets from Dam Square. In this way, the musicians and the public bring the city back to life, ringing in the new season with you in this spectacular way! Daniel Harding is not only a conductor but also a pilot for Air France. Tonight, he leads us on a musical journey through Europe, ending in Paris. PROGRAM Roukens: CHASE; Strauss: DON JUAN; Paganini: LA CAMPANELLA; Verdi: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO; Boulanger: D´UN MATIN DE PRINTEMPS; Ravel: TZIGAN; Gershwin: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS + encores
A Dance to the Music of Time – Ravel, Say and Rachmaninoff. Spellbinding storytellers, dancing ghosts and melodies that will stay with you forever.The fairy-tale heroine Scheherazade must keep her audience entertained on pain of death in the One Thousand and One Nights. In Fazil Say’s concerto, the violin plays the part of the endlessly fascinating tale-teller. The piece is paired with impassioned music originally written for the ballet: Ravel’s haunting waltz and Rachmaninoff’s mysterious Symphonic Dances. Ravel imagined whirling couples in a Viennese concert hall in music that seems haunted by World War I. Rachmaninoff also conjures up a ghostly waltz, amid the expressive melodies of the last music he ever wrote. PROGRAM Ravel: La valse; Fazil Say: Violin Concerto (1001 Nights in the Harem); Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
