Musical ballet triumphs performed by the Royal Danish Orchestra

In the latter half of the twentieth century, a particularly unrestrained, sensual and sonorous style of music emerged in Paris, flowing from such composers as Debussy and Ravel at a time when pictorial art turned to Impressionism.

The ballet scores by the two Frenchmen is pure balm for the soul. Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune is based on the pastoral poetry of Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé. The poem relates the sensual dreams of the faun deity on a hot afternoon in nature. Debussy’s introduction with the famous flute solo has made the work one of the most popular from this period. The atmosphere reveals that the composer, just like the Impressionist painters of his time, was primarily interested in moods rather than storytelling.

We meet several pastoral shepherds in Ravel’s ballet score for Daphnis et Chloé. The ballet was commissioned by Diaghilev, leader of Les Ballets Russes. Ravel based his interpretation of the ancient love myth on eighteenth-century paintings and created a sensuous soundscape. Diaghilev also commissioned the final work of the concert, Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka, which highlights the eternal love triangle: The marionette Petruska falls in love with the ballerina, who loves someone else.

Acclaimed American conductor David Robertson will helm the podium to conduct this magnificent music piece that celebrates the ballet repertoire of the Royal Danish Orchestra.

Claude Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2
Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka, complete 1911 version