Maurice Ravel was a 19th and early 20th century French composer of classical music. Maurice Ravel was born on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France. Ravel was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at age 14, and later studied with Gabriel Fauré. Just before departing on his American Tour in 1928, Ravel received a commission from Ida Rubinstein a Russian ballerina, actress, patron and Belle Époque figure.for a ballet, to be called Fandango. Boléro, as the work was renamed, lasts approximately 15 minutes, and repeats each of the themes two parts 9 times in the same key, using different orchestrations to vary the texture and to create a gradual crescendo At the first performance of her ballet production, at the Opéra in November 1928, Ida Rubinstein danced the role of a flamenco dancer who is trying out steps on a table in a bar, surrounded by men whose admiration turns to lustful obsession. Ravel did not entirely approve; his own conception was an outdoor scene in front of a factory whose machinery provides the inflexible rhythm; the factory workers would emerge to dance together. It was performed in this way, with designs by Léon Leyritz, at the Opéra on one occasion after Ravels death. In concert performances, Boléro became Ravels most popular work, and it is reputed to be the worlds most frequently played piece of classical music. Reference: maurice-ravel.net/bolero.htm wn/ida_rubinstein/biography
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 16:39:43 +0000