Repertoire

Frederic Mompou: Selected songs – Orchestrated by Albert Guinovart 15′
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (1924) 20′
Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (1912, 2020 rev. John Wilson) 55′

ARTISTS

Ludovic Morlot, conductor
Núria Rial, soprano
Lucas Debargue, piano
Orfeó Català
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC)

Programme

A selection of songs by Frederic Mompou opens the musical season at L’Auditori. During the summer of 1973, the composer of Música callada asked his friend Antoni Ros Marbà to adapt his Cançons sobre textos de Paul Valéry (Songs on texts by Paul Valéry) for orchestra. The selection is completed by a series of songs orchestrated by Albert Guinovart for the occasion.

Rhapsody in Blue opens with an unforgettable clarinet solo. The silhouette of an urban landscape that slowly unfolds, through the miracle of musical imagination, it was a recurring theme in Manhattan. Written by George Gershwin for a jazz band, the piece features a solo piano, alternating delicacy with a rhythmic energy that threatens to engulf it.

Commissioned by Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes, the suite Daphnis et Chloé by Maurice Ravel, premiered in 1912 at the Théâtre du Châtelet, tells a love story in a format that drew on some of the most innovative trends of the time.