for the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel Maurice Ravel: "Alborada del gracioso", "Ma mère lʼoye" (Suite) & "La Valse" Modest Mussorgsky / Maurice Ravel: "Pictures at an Exhibition"
This evening is all about the great French sound magician Maurice Ravel. It opens with the spirited "Alborada del gracioso", a virtuosic, sparkling work full of Spanish rhythms and dance-like irony that recalls the Iberian roots of the master, whose mother was Spanish. This is followed by the poetic suite "Ma mère l'oye", a delicately orchestrated journey through the world of fairy tales, in which Ravel enchants with simple beauty and subtle nostalgia. With "La Valse", the curtain rises on a wild, dizzying dance - a fascinating homage to the Viennese waltz and at the same time a swan song to a declining era. The crowning finale is Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition": originally written for piano, the work unfolds its full effect in Ravel's colorful orchestration - a monumental sound painting that brings every scene to life with luminous intensity before the inner eye.
