Ravel: Orchestral Works

Featuring

Carlo Rizzi
Gordan Nikolić
Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest
Maurice Ravel

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Composition History

Ravel's piano piece Pavane pour une infante défunte was commissioned by Winnarette Singer, an heiress to the Singer sewing machine manufacturer and a patroness of numerous artists in Paris.

Compositional Technique

In his work Tzigane, Ravel did not use authentic Gypsy themes but instead virtuoso-ly imitated their idiom, a practice he admired in other composers like Francis Poulenc.

Composer Biography

Maurice Ravel, the composer, was known for his dandy-like appearance in Parisian salons, often using a mask of a snob to belie his small physical stature (1.58 m tall).

Composer's Artistic Vision

Ravel's fascination with fairytales and childlike things led him to transform his property near Paris into a 'fairytale domicile,' which is now a Ravel Museum.

Composition History

Ravel's Boléro was commissioned by Ida Rubinstein, a dancer of 'enormous erotic radiance,' and premiered as a ballet with her performing a 'lascivious one-woman show' in a Spanish tavern setting.

Recording & Production

This recording utilizes several vintage tube microphones, including Neumann M 49, Microtech Gefell UM 92.1 S, Neumann U 47, and Neumann U 67, for various instruments and ambient capture.

Composition History

Sergei Diaghilev, director of the 'Ballets russes,' rejected Ravel's La Valse as a ballet, calling it 'the painting of a ballet' rather than a true ballet.