Begin your evening with the gauzy, sensuous soundscape of Ravel’s pastoral ballet, as we join forces with Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra, to unfurl the story of the young lovers in an enchanting interplay of rhythm and colour.

In turn-of-the-century Paris, Ravel composed a ballet about ancient Greece for a Russian dance company. The result was music of fluid, diaphanous beauty, a languid drama of danger and desire. Confronting its strange, modern rhythms, the dancers are said to have chanted the name of Ballet Russes impresario ‘Ser-gei Dia-ghi-lev’ to stay on beat. But Ravel’s choreographic symphony, complete with wordless chorus and even a wind machine, has stood the test of time.

Programme

Maurice Ravel – Daphnis and Chloé (complete ballet)

Artist(s)

Tenebrae