This week, Gustavo Gimeno will make his debut with the acclaimed Orchestre de Paris: for two nights, he will lead the orchestra in an all-Ravel programme at the Philharmonie de Paris.
Starting off the program are the „Valses nobles et sentimentales“, a set of seven waltzes and an epilogue, written originally for piano and orchestrated in 1912. It is followed by “La Valse”, a frenzied waltz depicting the decline of an entire world, symbolically represented in the most popular dance of the Austrian Empire. The program continues with “Alborada del Gracioso” and the “Rhapsodie espagnole”, Ravel’s first published piece written specifically for orchestra. The last piece of the night is one that the French composer described as his „one and only masterwork – unfortunately not containing any music“: For „Boléro”, he created a single theme over a simple rhythmic pattern, repeated over and over in different instrumental combinations leading up to a furious, turbulent finale.
The two concerts will take place on September 8 and 9 at the Philharmonie de Paris.