The Philharmonie de Paris celebrates 150 years of Ravel with an exhibition

The Philharmonie de Paris commemorates the birth sesquicentennial of the French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) with an exhibition based on his emblematic work: Bolero, written in 1928. Through a wide range of objects and media, the exhibition offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of the artist.

The tour proposes an overwhelming audiovisual experience, while bringing together a series of heritage objects from the most prestigious French collections, in particular the Ravel house-museum in Montfort-l’Amaury, where it was composed Bolero.

From the first room, the visitor will be able to fully experience that crescendo immersive orchestral performance thanks to a unique cinematographic device dedicated to the interpretation of Bolero by the Paris Orchestra and its musical director Klaus Mäkelä. Later, the multiple musical and choreographic reinterpretations of the work – such as those of Maurice Béjart, d’Aurél Milloss or Thierry Malandain – are deployed in audiovisual form to show that, after 1928, Bolero has not ceased to fascinate interpreters.

The work, titled in the first instance Fandango, is part of a whole line of Ravellian compositions inspired by Spain, from to Havana (1895), from his youth, to his last work, Don Quixote and Dulcinea, passing through the opera Spanish time.

Born in Ciboure, 10 kilometers from the border with Spain, Ravel inherited from his mother, of Basque origin, a taste for the music of that region. He took hold, therefore, of an imaginary made of sensuality and dreams that he shared with his contemporary musicians.

a free spirit

When Ravel composed Bolero He was 53 years old and at the peak of his career. Neither academic nor decidedly modern, he was a free spirit. Before leaving for the United States in 1928, Ida Rubinstein, a former star of Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, approached him to commission a spanish character balletwhich he wanted to donate to the Paris Opera. Upon his return from the trip, Rubinstein reminded him of the request. In the exhibition, decorations and paintings evoke this artist on stage.

From the beginning Bolero It was designed for dance. Its hypnotic rhythm evokes the sound of castanets from the first seconds of the piece. in the sample Ravel Bolero Mockups of the sets and costume designs recall the productions of the musical ballet, while also evoking other choreographic scores by the composer: Pavane for a deceased princess (1899), Daphnis and Chloe (1909-1912) y The Waltz (1919-1920).

When composing Bolero, Ravel had not written music for ballet for almost 10 years. I hadn’t had much luck with dance. As currently shown Daphnis and Chloe It is usually presented more in its version for concert than for ballet.

As part of his commission, Rubinstein determined the character of the work, an idea taken up from the beginning by Ravel. The argument would be like this: In a tavern in Spain, one dances under the copper lamp on the ceiling. Due to the cheers of those present, the dancer jumps on the long table and her steps become animated little by little..

In 1921, thanks to an inheritance, the composer acquired a house in Montfort-l’Amaury, Le Belvédere, which became a refuge away from the Parisian turmoil and where he was able to compose Bolero. The process was not without setbacks. To satisfy Rubinstein’s request, Ravel first thought of an orchestration of Iberia, a piano work by Isaac Albéniz, however, someone else beat him to it. Disappointed, he was on the verge of quitting.

Legend has it that one morning, in the company of the composer and critic Gustave Samazeuilh, Ravel settled down in front of his piano and began to play a repetitive, anodyne melody, which would become that of Bolero. When asked about it, he considered it empty of music. That comment, it has been said, at the same time provocative and playful, contains a brilliant idea: with an extreme economy of means, a stubborn rhythmic, two melodic motifs, one crescendo orchestral and unexpected modulation, Ravel created a universal masterpiece, the fruit of radical musical reflection.

As a child, Ravel had become passionate about all kinds of mechanisms, like those mechanical toys and puzzles that inhabited his house in Montfort-l’Amaury. In a letter from 1928, he speaks of Bolero like a machine. Son of an engineer-inventor, his taste for detail and precision was transferred to his compositions.

The exhibition Ravel Bolero will remain until June 15 at the Philharmonie de Paris. To accompany it, the concert hall (in the City of Music) will offer a special program with concerts from March 7 to 10.