Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Sir Simon Rattle

• Concerts

Amongst the numerous top orchestras that make a guest appearance at the Hamburg International Music Festival is the Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks under the leadership of its principal conductor Sir Simon Rattle. Together, they present music by two French composers who became famous for their inquiring spirit and gift for innovation: Pierre Boulez and Maurice Ravel. The highlight of the evening is Ravel’s ballet music »Daphnis et Chloé«, which carries the audience off into lush soundscapes.

Rattle and the BRSO do the same with Hamburg’s Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor, which has an unusual role: entirely without lyrics, Ravel, an unrivalled master of instrumentation, uses the human voice simply as tone colour here. This further intensifies the overwhelming sensuality of a form of music whose range literally erupts in the face of diverse combinations of sound – an exuberant feast for the ears!

To create a ritual act in notes to honour a deceased friend – that was the occasion Pierre Boulez had for composing »Rituel«. For this, experimenter Boulez split up the traditional orchestra into eight groups of different size, whose configurations range from a soloistic oboe to the big brass ensemble. By being distributed throughout the space, this piece takes a big step into the audience and lets it take part directly in the musical happenings.

PERFORMERS

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks orchestra

Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor Hamburg choir

Sir Simon Rattle conductor

PROGRAM

Pierre Boulez
Rituel

- Interval -

Maurice Ravel
Daphnis et Chloé