Ravel

36 Posts
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On This Day
19 May: Ravel’s L’heure Espagnol Was Premiered
Maurice Ravel presented his one-act opera L’heure Espagnol, probably most idiomatically translated as “How They Keep Time in Spain,” at the Opéra-Comique on 19 May 1911. Based on the play by Franc-Nohain, which enjoyed great success at the Odéon in
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Maurice Ravel’s Trois Chansons
At the time of his death on 28 December 1937, Maurice Ravel was the most celebrated composer in France. For a number of scholars, however, the significance of his music and the nature of his artistic legacy remained elusive. And
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It’s All About Taste
An Interview with Chiyan Wong
When we last caught up with pianist Chiyan Wong, he was up to his eyebrows in Bach, performing the Goldberg Variations. Now, the jazz bug has caught him, and he’s been pursuing it through the music of Ravel and Tsfasman.
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On This Day
8 June: Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe Was Premiered
Set on the Greek isle of Lesbos, the ancient Greek novel Daphnis et Chloe is a pastoral tale of shepherds and shepherdesses authored by the Greek writer Longus. It tells the story of a boy and a girl, each abandoned
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Bizarre and Beautiful
Maurice Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole
A deceitful wife, an unsuspecting husband, three concealed suitors, and a room full of clocks: far from a simple farce, this one-hour comic opera is one of Ravel’s masterpieces. It was in 1911 that the world heard Ravel’s first opera:
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Ravel’s Trois Poèmes de Mallarmé – Fragile and Beautiful
It was in the summer of 1912 when hot off the heels of the sumptuous ballet score Daphnis et Chloé – his biggest creative undertaking to date – Ravel took some time off composing to recover and wait for inspiration
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Maurice Ravel and His Circle of Friends II
Let’s continue to look at Ravel’s relationships with his fellow artists and musicians. In 1907 Ralph Vaughan Williams went to Paris to take lessons with Maurice Ravel. The student was three years older than the teacher, but Ravel’s sinuous, detailed,
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Maurice Ravel and His Circle of Friends
How private was Maurice Ravel’s private life? Well, to this day nobody has uncovered conclusive evidence that he ever had a sexual relationship. While his music is passionate and distinctive, Ravel’s personality remains mysterious. His friend and biographer Alexis Roland-Manuel
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