Bewitching Rhythms – Marsalis and Ravel

The gauzy soundscape of Ravel’s pastoral ballet meets a sparkling concerto by Wynton Marsalis, celebrating all the trumpet is capable of.

The Programme

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.

Renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and musician Wynton Marsalis pays homage to the many great trumpeters that have come before him through this sprawling six-movement trumpet encyclopedia.

From Louis Armstrong to Johann Hummel, this masterpiece mingles jazz and blues, Copland-esque inflections, and classical traditions, with Marsalis’ signature flare. And, being a jazzer himself, there’s plenty of room left in the score for spontaneity.

The Performers

This is the first time Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor Designate, has conducted music by Marsalis, and he and the LSO pay tribute to the composer in this deeply felt performance. Alison Balsom is attuned to every nuance of the piece.

The choral phenomenon Tenebrae bring their unforgettable sound to Daphnis and Chloé.

I believe this to be the most important and impactful piece written for the trumpet in the last two hundred years or so’ – Alison Balsom

Read the programme

*Co-commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra, Verbier Festival, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Swedish Radio

Header Image © Mark Allan