Ravel

BBC PROMS 2011

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London

Presented by Andrew McGregor

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with chief conductor Donald Runnicles throws the musical focus on France, including a celebration of Henri Dutilleux's 95th Birthday.

'Tout un monde lointain' is one of Dutilleux's best loved works. Commissioned by the great Cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, it ranks among the great cello concertos of the 20th century. The very French and vivid instrumental imagination and harmony evoke dreamlike qualities in Baudelaire's poems - the inspiration for this work. The masterly composition and orchestration of Maurice Ravel then take us to Spain, with his ever popular Bolero, and to Ancient Greece with his orchestral and choral masterpiece Daphnis and Chloë - written for the Ballets Russes in 1912. Ravel's slightly older contemporary, Debussy, also had his work Prelude a L'après-midi d'un faune staged and popularised by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, and it sets up a world of breathtaking orchestral textures.

Ravel: Daphnis and Chloë

Lynn Harrell (cello)
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
The BBC Scottish Symphoy Orchestra
Donald Runnicles (conductor)

This Prom will be repeated on Sunday 7th August at 2pm.