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Maurice Ravel was a French composer known for his intricate orchestration and innovative harmonies. Best known for works like Boléro and Daphnis et Chloé, he expertly blended impressionistic textures with classical forms. Ravel’s music is characterized by its emotional depth and technical precision, leaving a lasting influence on 20th-century classical music and beyond.
Quick overview of Maurice Ravel by associated keywords
These concerts with works by Maurice Ravel became visible lately at Concert Pulse.
Snow sparkles in the pale winter sun, a horse-drawn sleigh glides through a light birch forest. Ice flowers grow on the window pane, while the samovar boils in the room. Tchaikovsky, with his First Symphony, makes a atmospheric declaration of love to the famous-infamous Russian winter with all its manifestations. In addition, two completely different but equally fascinating piano concertos are heard: Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto bursts with energy and sophistication. It is a youthful work full of spirit and shows Prokofiev as a true virtuoso of the piano. On the other hand, Ravel's Piano Concerto "for the left hand" is characterized by darker tones and was written for the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right hand in World War I. It is so cleverly composed that as a listener, one does not realize that in this almost 20-minute concert, piano and orchestra only play together for six minutes. A challenge for our Artist in Residence, who once again can demonstrate the full range of his abilities.
Concerts in season 2024/25 or later where works by Maurice Ravel is performed
Everyone is invited to keep up the tempo with this concert that's as rich as it is unbridled! A joyful introduction to rhythm and movement thanks to musicians from the Orchestre de Paris, the Youth Choir and body percussion.
Award-winning pianist Denis Kozhukhin and Dutch violinist Janine Jansen team up to perform Romantic works. Jansen, praised by The Times for her ability to revitalize repertoire pieces, feels connected to every piece she plays. The successful Jansen-Kozhukhin duo creates music with existential depth and emotional tension, making their performances unforgettable.
Our current Artist Spotlight, Khatia Buniatishvili, joins forces with her sister Gvantsa for an exhilarating evening of piano duo music from Mozart to Gershwin via Ravel.
With her dazzling technique and natural stage presence, Dutch violinist Janine Jansen has long been among the top tier of international star violinists. Pianist Denis Kozhukhin also combines outstanding technique with mature musicality and an ability to establish a close connection with the audience. They have both previously visited Konserhuset, individually and together.During their acclaimed visit in 2022, they performed, among other pieces, Brahms' third violin sonata. Now, we hear the first two: the "rain sonata," so named because its finale includes a quote from Brahms' own song "Regenlied," and the second, named "Thun" after the town in Switzerland where Brahms spent time when he composed it. There, he was inspired by the beautiful surroundings. "There are so many melodies here that one must be careful not to trample on any of them," he expressed it.Before Ravel's concluding violin sonata with its famous blues movement, we hear Eugène Ysaÿe's sensually dark-toned Poème élégiaque, a milestone in the violin repertoire, and Olivier Messiaen's Thème et variations, which in character resembles his most performed work, Quartet for the End of Time.
Für den jungen Georgier Giorgi Gigashvili ist es ein Leichtes, seine klassische Pianistenkarriere konzentriert zu verfolgen und gleichzeitig seiner Leidenschaft für stilistisch experimentelle und elektronische Musik nachzugehen. Diese bewies er vor zwei Jahren, als er mit einem klassischen Klavierrezital und seinem Bandprojekt „Georgia on my mind“ beim Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival zu Gast war. 2025 kehrt der begabte Freigeist mit einem Programm nach Heidelberg zurück, das es in sich hat: Ausgehend von Ravels mystischem „Miroirs“-Zyklus und dem traumverlorenen wie emotional packenden „Postlude“ von Josef Bardanashvili wagt sich Gigashvili zur sehr physischen Klaviersonate Nr. 6 von Galina Ustwolskaya und Prokofjews erster seiner drei sogenannten „Kriegssonaten“ vor.Das Konzert ist Teil des Musikpreises des Kulturkreises der Deutschen Wirtschaft, mit dem Giorgi Giashvili 2024 ausgezeichnet wurde. Er überzeugte die Jury mit seiner außergewöhnlichen Bühnenpräsenz, seiner Musikalität und seinem solistischen Auftreten. Der begehrte Preis umfasst neben einem Preisgeld die Kulturkreis-Tournee mit Auftrittsmöglichkeiten bei den renommierten Partnerfestivals, u. a. beim Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival, Beethovenfest Bonn und den Festspielen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Since 1953, the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft has promoted young, emerging talents in classical music. The music prize, with a value of €15,000, aims to provide support at the beginning of a music career. It is intended for outstanding instrumentalists and singers under 30 who live in German-speaking countries. In addition to the prize money, the award includes performance opportunities at renowned partner festivals. The finalists will perform at a concert with Ensemble Resonanz, accompanied by conductor Gregor A. Mayrhofer.
The duo formed by Janine Jansen and Denis Kozhukhin in a programme juxtaposing Brahms—a composer particularly close to their hearts—with a selection of 20th-century French chamber music.
Rising violinist Maria Ioudenitch and her pianist father, Stanislav, share a close bond both personally and musically. Their program begins with Beethoven's last violin sonata, followed by Ravel's, featuring a jazzy "Blues" movement. After works by the Boulanger sisters—Nadia's song "Soleils Couchants" and Lili's Nocturne and Cortège—they perform Bartók's first sonata, with its dissonances mirroring occasional family life tensions.
The Champions League of Piano Music. Winners of the ARD Competition.
The Sunday Morning Concert brings you wonderful and much-loved compositions, performed by top musicians from the Netherlands and abroad. Enjoy the most beautiful music in the morning! You can make your Sunday complete by enjoying a delicious post-concert lunch in restaurant LIER.The Royal Concertgebouw is one of the best concert halls in the world, famous for its exceptional acoustics and varied programme. Attend a concert and have an experience you will never forget. Come and enjoy inspiring music in the beautiful surroundings of the Main Hall or the intimate Recital Hall.
The WDR Symphony Orchestra will perform at the German President's benefit concert in 2025. Proceeds will support the Elly Heuss-Knapp Foundation, which aids mothers, fathers, and caregivers. The concert will feature a diverse program including works by Enescu, Ravel, Korngold, and Bernstein. Hanna-Elisabeth Müller and Maximilian Hornung will join the orchestra as guest soloists, with Siham El-Maimouni hosting. Fatma Said has withdrawn due to pregnancy.
Klaus Mäkelä invites listeners to use their ears and eyes. Maurice Ravel, a master of ‘visual’ composition, could depict exotic settings and fairy-tale atmospheres with razor-sharp precision. In the rarely performed orchestral miniature Shéhérazade, we are transported to the world of The Thousand and One Nights. Ravel’s compatriot Guillaume Connesson is a contemporary sound wizard. His works sound almost cinematic, not least because of their highly refined orchestration. In addition to his recent oboe concerto, entitled Les belles heures, with Ivan Podyomov as soloist, the programme features the brand-new flute concerto he composed especially for the Concertgebouw Orchestra and its principal flautist Emily Beynon. It’s the perfect opportunity to discover for yourself why Connesson’s exciting music appeals to such a wide audience.The programme contrasts French sophistication with Hungarian horror by Béla Bartók. In The Miraculous Mandarin, Bartók managed to express in music the more primitive side of modern civilisation. This grim fairy tale sounds just as exciting – and alarming – as it did 100 years ago.
29th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival - Beethoven and great poetry 6-18 April 2025 More information: www.beethoven.org.pl Organiser: Ludwig van Beethoven Association General Director of the Festival: Elżbieta Penderecka The Festival, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Warsaw, is held under the honorary patronage of President Andrzej Duda.
Klaus Mäkelä invites listeners to use their ears and eyes. Maurice Ravel, a master of ‘visual’ composition, could depict exotic settings and fairy-tale atmospheres with razor-sharp precision. In the rarely performed orchestral miniature Shéhérazade, we are transported to the world of The Thousand and One Nights. Ravel’s compatriot Guillaume Connesson is a contemporary sound wizard. His works sound almost cinematic, not least because of their highly refined orchestration. In addition to his recent oboe concerto, entitled Les belles heures, with Ivan Podyomov as soloist, the programme features the brand-new flute concerto he composed especially for the Concertgebouw Orchestra and its principal flautist Emily Beynon. It’s the perfect opportunity to discover for yourself why Connesson’s exciting music appeals to such a wide audience.The programme contrasts French sophistication with Hungarian horror by Béla Bartók. In The Miraculous Mandarin, Bartók managed to express in music the more primitive side of modern civilisation. This grim fairy tale sounds just as exciting – and alarming – as it did 100 years ago.
For lovers of chamber music the Recital Hall is the venue of choice. You can hear the musicians breathe and you can practically touch them. This hall is also cherished by musicians for its beautiful acoustics and direct contact with the audience. In the Recital Hall you can hear the best musicians of our time. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Recital Hall for yourself!
Ravel’s orchestral masterpiece is a ballet that resists staging. Enter Circa’s powerful acrobatics and aerials.
Pierre Boulez, the 20th-century music master, was never a Gewandhaus guest. Only his "Notations" has been performed there. Born 100 years ago, Boulez studied in Paris and quickly rose to fame. In the 1950s, he became known for enigmatic compositions and, in the 60s, as a conductor. "Éclat," a key work, combines 15 instruments. Boulez also made history as a conductor, shaping interpretations of Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, and Bartók. He founded the Ensemble InterContemporain, with Pierre-Laurent Aimard on piano.
Pierre Boulez, the 20th-century music master, was never a Gewandhaus guest. Only his "Notations" has been performed there. Born 100 years ago, Boulez studied in Paris and quickly rose to fame. In the 1950s, he became known for enigmatic compositions and, in the 60s, as a conductor. "Éclat," a key work, combines 15 instruments. Boulez also made history as a conductor, shaping interpretations of Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, and Bartók. He founded the Ensemble InterContemporain, with Pierre-Laurent Aimard on piano.
A very unique musical dawn of spring awaits the audience with a singular selection of famous modern and romantic orchestral pieces under the direction of Igor Budinstein. A rousing programme full of the energy of Ravel’s »Bolero!« and works by Romantics such as Debussy and Bizet.
Anna Vinnitskaya, a Hamburg-based pianist, comes from a musical family and says that she cannot imagine a life without concerts. She makes the instrument shimmer and softly shine when playing. Vinnitskaya loves to tell stories in tones and seduces her audience with detailed listening.
Seong-Jin Cho loves the “incredible wealth of colours” and “often orchestral sound” of Maurice Ravel's piano music, where he finds a special form of sensitivity. He sees in Ravel “a person who smiles gently, but with tears in his eyes”. To mark the 150th anniversary of the French composer's birth, our Artist in Residence will perform Ravel's complete works for solo piano, including the gravitational Pavane pour une infante défunte, the mysterious Gaspard de la nuit and the sometimes lively, sometimes dreamy Valses nobles et sentimentales.
The turning point from the 19th to the 20th century is one of the most exciting moments in the history of music – especially in France, where late-Romantic offshoots combined with the new sounds of impressionism and expressionism into a scintillating mix. At the end of the »Pianomania« series, where in this season everything revolves around the theme of »Transcriptions«, Geister Duo, consisting of the two pianists David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard, takes us along on a journey into precisely this period and demonstrates that large orchestral works can also display their appeal on 176 keys. The two of them got to know each other while studying in Paris and have formed a steadfast duo ever since. In 2021, they scooped up big at the ARD International Music Competition and, besides winning First Prize, they also won five special prizes. Alongside Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, one of the most important protagonists in turn-of-the-century France was also the Russian Igor Stravinsky, whose ground-breaking ballet music – including the infamous scandalous ballet »The Rite of Spring« – premiered in Paris. Geister Duo now opens its concert in Hamburg with a four-handed version of Stravinsky’s ballet »Petrushka«, in which three puppets of a charlatan come alive at a fair in Saint Petersburg. It proceeds no less figuratively on two pianos after the interval – with Paul Dukas’ setting of Goethe’s »The Sorcerer’s Apprentice« to music. This primarily became world famous thanks to Walt Disney’s film »Fantasia« with Mickey Mouse as the clumsy sorcerer’s pupil. The programme is rounded off with a selection from Debussy’s atmospherically dense »Trois Nocturnes« and the orchestral hit »Boléro«, which Ravel arranged for two pianos.
Lumière et pesanteur, written by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho as a gift for the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, radiates a shimmering sonic texture that is captivating, and serves as a brief opening prelude. Maurice Ravel’s brilliant and jazzy Piano Concerto in G major, written between 1929 and 1931, is entrusted to the sensitive and assured hands of pianist Alice Sara Ott – its colorful, playful style providing an exciting contrast to the dark, incisive soundworld of Jean Sibelius. The American conductor Karina Canellakis has chosen to showcase this soundworld by performing the four-movement suite that portrays the adventures of the hero (and womanizer) Lemminkäinen, as found in the Finnish national epic Kalevala.