Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Maurice Ravel
birth name	Joseph Maurice Ravel
birth date	March 07, 1875
birth place	Ciboure, France
death date	December 28, 1937
death place	Paris
resting place	Levallois-Perret
nationality	French
occupation	Composer
partner	None
relatives	Marie Delouart, Joseph Ravel }}

Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875December 28, 1937) was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects. Much of his piano music, chamber music, vocal music and orchestral music has entered the standard concert repertoire.

Ravel's piano compositions, such as ''Jeux d'eau'', ''Miroirs'', ''Le tombeau de Couperin'' and ''Gaspard de la nuit'', demand considerable virtuosity from the performer, and his orchestral music, including ''Daphnis et Chloé'' and his arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', uses a variety of sound and instrumentation.

Ravel is perhaps known best for his orchestral work ''Boléro'' (1928), which he considered trivial and once described as "a piece for orchestra without music."

According to SACEM, Ravel's estate earns more royalties than that of any other French composer. According to international copyright law, Ravel's works have been in the public domain since January 1, 2008, in most countries. In France, due to anomalous copyright law extensions to account for the two world wars, they will not enter the public domain until 2015.

Biography

Early life

Ravel was born in the Basque town of Ciboure, France, near Biarritz, close to the border with Spain, in 1875. His mother, Marie Delouart, was of Basque descent and grew up in Madrid, Spain, while his father, Joseph Ravel, was a Swiss inventor and industrialist from French Haute-Savoie. Both were Catholics and they provided a happy and stimulating household for their children. Some of Joseph's inventions were quite important, including an early internal-combustion engine and a notorious circus machine, the "Whirlwind of Death," an automotive loop-the-loop that was quite a success until a fatal accident at the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1903. Joseph delighted in taking his sons to factories to see the latest mechanical devices, and he also had a keen interest in music and culture. Ravel substantiated his father's early influence by stating later, “As a child, I was sensitive to music—- to every kind of music.”

Ravel was very fond of his mother, and her Basque heritage was a strong influence on his life and music. Among his earliest memories are folk songs she sang to him. The family moved to Paris three months after the birth of Maurice, and there his younger brother Édouard was born. Édouard became his father’s favorite and also became an engineer.

Though obviously talented at the piano, Ravel demonstrated a preference for composing. He was particularly impressed by the new Russian works conducted by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Exposition Universelle in 1889. The foreign music at the exhibition also had a great influence on Ravel’s contemporaries Erik Satie, Emmanuel Chabrier, and most significantly Claude Debussy. That year Ravel also met Ricardo Viñes, who would become one of his best friends, one of the foremost interpreters of his piano music, and an important link between Ravel and Spanish music. The students shared an appreciation for Richard Wagner, the Russian school, and the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, and Stéphane Mallarmé.

The Conservatoire and early career

Ravel’s parents encouraged his musical pursuits and sent him to the Conservatoire de Paris, first as a preparatory student and eventually as a piano major. His teachers included Émile Descombes. He received a first prize in the piano student competition in 1891. Overall, however, he was not successful academically even as his musicianship matured dramatically. Considered “very gifted”, Ravel was also called “somewhat heedless” in his studies. He dressed like a dandy and was meticulous about his appearance and demeanor. Short in stature, light in frame, and bony in features, Ravel had the "appearance of a well-dressed jockey". His large head seemed suitably matched to his great intellect. He was well-read and later accumulated a library of over 1,000 volumes.

After failing to meet the requirement of earning a competitive medal in three consecutive years, Ravel was expelled during 1895. He turned down a music professorship in Tunisia then returned to the Conservatoire in 1898 and started his studies with Gabriel Fauré, determined to focus on composing rather than piano playing. He studied composition with Fauré until he was dismissed from the class in 1900 for having won neither the fugue nor the composition prize. He remained an auditor with Fauré until he left the Conservatoire in 1903. Ravel found his teacher’s personality and methods sympathetic and they remained friends and colleagues. He also undertook private studies with André Gedalge, whom he later stated was responsible for "the most valuable elements of my technique." Ravel studied the ability of each instrument carefully in order to determine the possible effects, and was sensitive to their color and timbre. This may account for his success as an orchestrator and as a transcriber of his own piano works and those of other composers, such as Mussorgsky, Debussy and Schumann.

His first significant work, ''Habanera'' for two pianos, was later transcribed into the well-known third movement of his ''Rapsodie espagnole'', which he dedicated to Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, another of his professors at the Conservatoire. His first published work was ''Menuet antique'', dedicated to and premiered by Viñes. In 1899, Ravel conducted his first orchestral piece, ''Shéhérazade'', and was greeted by a raucous mixture of boos and applause. The critics were somewhat unfavorable, ''e.g.'' reviling him as "a jolting debut: a clumsy plagiarism of the Russian School" and terming him a “mediocrely gifted debutante ... who will perhaps become something if not someone in about ten years, if he works hard.” As the most gifted composer of his class and as a leader, with Debussy, of avant-garde French music, Ravel would continue to have a difficult time with the critics for some time to come. Around 1900, Ravel joined with a number of innovative young artists, poets, critics, and musicians who were referred to as the ''Apaches'' (hooligans), a name coined by Viñes to represent his band of "artistic outcasts". The group met regularly until the beginning of World War I and the members often inspired each other with intellectual argument and performances of their works before the group. For a time, the influential group included Igor Stravinsky and Manuel de Falla. One of the first works Ravel performed for the Apaches was ''Jeux d'eau'', his first piano masterpiece and clearly a pathfinding impressionistic work. Viñes performed the public premiere of this piece and Ravel's other early masterpiece ''Pavane pour une infante défunte'' during 1902.

During his years at the Conservatoire, Ravel tried numerous times to win the prestigious Prix de Rome, but to no avail; he was probably considered too radical by the conservatives, including Director Théodore Dubois. One of Ravel's pieces, the String Quartet in F, probably modeled on Debussy’s Quartet (1893), is now a standard work of chamber music, though at the time it was criticized and found lacking academically. After a scandal involving his loss of the prize during 1905 to Victor Gallois, despite being favored to win, Ravel left the Conservatoire. The incident – named the "Ravel Affair" by the Parisian press – engaged the entire artistic community, pitting conservatives against the avant-garde, and eventually caused the resignation of Dubois and his replacement by Fauré, a vindication of sorts for Ravel. Though deprived of the opportunity to study in Rome, the decade after the scandal proved to be Ravel's most productive, and included his "Spanish period".

Ravel and Debussy

Ravel met Debussy during the 1890s. Debussy was older than Ravel by some twelve years and his pioneering ''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune'' was influential among the younger musicians including Ravel, who were impressed by the new language of impressionism. During 1900, Ravel was invited to Debussy’s home and they played each other’s works. Viñes became the preferred piano performer for both composers and a go-between. The two composers attended many of the same musical events and were performed at the same concerts. Ravel and the Apaches were strong supporters of Debussy’s controversial public debut of his unconventional opera ''Pelléas et Mélisande'', which garnered Debussy both fame and scorn. Even though they worked independently of one another, because they employed differing means to similar ends, and because superficial similarities and even some more substantive ones are evident, the public and the critics associated them more than the facts warranted.

Ravel wrote that Debussy’s “genius was obviously one of great individuality, creating its own laws, constantly in evolution, expressing itself freely, yet always faithful to French tradition. For Debussy, the musician and the man, I have had profound admiration, but by nature I am different from Debussy.” Ravel further stated, “I think I have always personally followed a direction opposed to that of the symbolism of Debussy.” As Ravel said, “It is probably better after all for us to be on frigid terms for illogical reasons.”

Early major works

The next of Ravel’s piano compositions to become famous was ''Miroirs'' (Mirrors, 1905), five piano pieces which marked a “harmonic evolution” and which one commentator described as “intensely descriptive and pictorial. They banish all sentiment in expression but offer to the listener a number of refined sensory elements which can be appreciated according to his imagination.” Next was his ''Histoires naturelles'' (Nature Stories), five humorous songs evoking the presence of five animals. Two years later, Ravel completed his ''Rapsodie espagnole'', his first major "Spanish" piece, written first for piano four hands and then scored for orchestra. Though it employs folk-like melodies, no actual folk songs are quoted. It premiered during 1908 to generally good reviews, with one critic stating that it was "one of the most interesting novelties of the season", while Pierre Lalo (as usual) reacted negatively, calling it "laborious and pedantic". Next followed Ravel's music for the opera ''L'heure espagnole'' (The Spanish Hour), full of humor and rich in color, employing a wide variety of instruments and their characteristic qualities, including the trombone, sarrusophone, tuba, celesta, xylophone, and bells. The libretto was by Franc-Nohain, after his own comedy of the same name.

Ravel further extended his mastery of impressionistic piano music with ''Gaspard de la nuit'', based on a collection by the same name by Aloysius Bertrand, with some influence from the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, particularly in the second part. Viñes, as usual, performed the premiere but his performance displeased Ravel, and their relationship became strained from then on. For future premieres, Ravel replaced Viñes with Marguerite Long. Also unhappy with the conservative musical establishment which was discouraging performance of new music, around this time Ravel, Fauré, and some of his pupils formed the Société musicale indépendante (SMI). During 1910, the society presented the premiere of Ravel’s ''Ma mère l'oye'' (Mother Goose) in its original piano duet version. With this work, Ravel followed in the tradition of Schumann, Mussorgsky, and Debussy, who also created memorable works of childhood themes. During 1912, Ravel's ''Ma mère l'oye'' was performed as a ballet (with added music) after being first transcribed from piano to orchestra. Looking to expand his contacts and career, Ravel made his first foreign tours to England and Scotland during 1909 and 1911.

''Daphnis et Chloé''

Ravel began work with impresario Sergei Diaghilev during 1909 for the ballet ''Daphnis et Chloé'' commissioned by Diaghilev with the lead danced by the famous ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky. Diaghilev had taken Paris by storm the previous year in his Parisian opera debut, ''Boris Godunov''. In frustration, Diaghilev nearly cancelled the project. The ballet had an unenthusiastic reception and lasted only two performances, only to be revived to acclaim a year later. Igor Stravinsky called ''Daphnis et Chloé'' "one of the most beautiful products of all French music" and author Burnett James claims that it is "Ravel's most impressive single achievement, as it is his most opulent and confident orchestral score". The work is notable for its rhythmic diversity, lyricism, and evocations of nature. The score utilizes a large orchestra and two choruses, one onstage and one offstage. So exhausting was the effort to score the ballet that Ravel's health deteriorated, with a diagnosis of neurasthenia soon forcing him to rest for several months. During 1914, just as World War I began, Ravel composed his Piano Trio (for piano, violin, and cello) with its Basque themes. The piece, difficult to play well, is considered a masterpiece among trio works.

War years

Although he considered his small stature and light weight an advantage to becoming an aviator, and he tried every means of securing service as a flyer, during the First World War Ravel was not allowed to enlist as a pilot because of his age and weak health. Instead, he became a truck driver stationed at the Verdun front. At one point Ravel's unit engaged a German unit that included a young Adolf Hitler. With his mother’s death during 1917, his fondest relationship ended and he began a “horrible despair”, adding to his ill health and the general gloom over the suffering endured by the people of his country during the war. However, during the war years, Ravel did manage some compositions, including one of his most popular works, ''Le tombeau de Couperin'', a commemoration of the musical ideals of François Couperin, the early 18th century composer, which premiered during 1919. Each movement is dedicated to a friend of Ravel's who died in the war, with the final movement dedicated to the deceased husband of Ravel’s favorite pianist Marguerite Long.

1920s

Around 1920, Diaghilev commissioned Ravel to write ''La valse'' (The Waltz), originally named ''Wien'' (Vienna), which was to be used for a projected ballet. The piece, conceived many years earlier, became a waltz with a macabre undertone, famous for its “fantastic and fatal whirling”. However, it was rejected by Diaghilev as “not a ballet. It’s a portrait of ballet”. Ravel, hurt by the comment, ended the relationship. Subsequently, it became a popular concert work and when the two men met again during 1925, Ravel refused to shake Diaghilev's hand. Diaghilev challenged Ravel to a duel, but friends persuaded Diaghilev to recant. The two never met again.

During 1920, the French government awarded Ravel the Légion d'honneur, but he refused it. The next year, he retired to the French countryside where he continued to write music, albeit even less prolifically, but in more tranquil surroundings. He returned regularly to Paris for performances and socializing, and increased his foreign concert tours. Ravel maintained his influential participation with the SMI which continued its active role of promoting new music, particularly of British and American composers such as Arnold Bax, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Aaron Copland, and Virgil Thomson. With Debussy’s death, Ravel became perceived popularly as the main composer of French classical music. As Fauré stated in a letter to Ravel in October 1922, “I am happier than you can imagine about the solid position which you occupy and which you have acquired so brilliantly and so rapidly. It is a source of joy and pride for your old professor.” During 1922, Ravel completed his ''Sonata for Violin and Cello''. Dedicated to Debussy’s memory, the work features the thinner texture popular with the younger postwar composers. Ravel was fully aware of this, and was mostly effective in preventing a serious breach between his generation of musicians and the younger group. These trends posed challenges for Ravel, always a slow and deliberate composer, who desired to keep his music relevant but still revered the past. This may have played a part in his declining output and longer composing time during the 1920s. Around this time, he also completed ''Chansons madécasses'', the summit of his vocal art.

During 1927, Ravel’s String Quartet received its first complete recording. By this time Ravel, like Edward Elgar, had become convinced of the importance of recording his works, especially with his input and direction. He made recordings nearly every year from then until his death. That same year, he completed and premiered his Sonata for Violin and Piano, his last chamber work, with its second movement (titled “Blues”) gaining much attention.

Ravel also served as a juror with Florence Meyer Blumenthal in awarding the Prix Blumenthal, a grant given between 1919 and 1954 to young French painters, sculptors, decorators, engravers, writers, and musicians.

American tour

After two months of planning, during 1928 Ravel made a four-month concert tour in North America, for a promised minimum of $10,000 The noted critic Olin Downes wrote, “Mr. Ravel has pursued his way as an artist quietly and very well. He has disdained superficial or meretricious effects. He has been his own most unsparing critic.” Ravel conducted most of the leading orchestras in the U.S. from coast to coast and visited twenty-five cities.

He also met the American composer George Gershwin in New York and went with him to hear jazz in Harlem, probably hearing some of the famous jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington. There is a story that when Gershwin met Ravel, he mentioned that he would like to study with the French composer. According to Gershwin, the Frenchman retorted, "Why do you want to become a second-rate Ravel when you are already a first-rate Gershwin?" The second part of the story has Ravel asking Gershwin how much money he made. Upon hearing Gershwin's reply, Ravel suggested that maybe ''he'' should study with Gershwin. This tale may well be apocryphal: Gershwin seems also to have told a near-identical story about a conversation with Arnold Schoenberg, and some have claimed it was with Igor Stravinsky. (See George Gershwin.) In any event, this had to have been before Ravel wrote ''Boléro'', which became financially very successful for him.

Ravel then visited New Orleans and imbibed the jazz scene there as well. His admiration of jazz, increased by his American visit, caused him to include some jazz elements in a few of his later compositions, especially the two piano concertos. The great success of his American tour made Ravel famous internationally.

Final years

After returning to France, Ravel composed his most famous and controversial orchestral work ''Boléro'', originally called ''Fandango''. Ravel called it “an experiment in a very special and limited direction”. He stated his idea for the piece, “I am going to try to repeat it a number of times on different orchestral levels but without any development.” He conceived of it as an accompaniment to a ballet and not as an orchestral piece as, in his own opinion, “it has no music in it”, and was somewhat taken aback by its popular success. Ravel made one of the few recordings of his own music when he conducted his ''Boléro'' with the Lamoureux Orchestra in 1930.

Remarkably, Ravel composed both of his piano concertos simultaneously. He completed the Concerto for the Left Hand first. The work was commissioned by Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm during World War I. Ravel was inspired by the technical challenges of the project. As Ravel stated, “In a work of this kind, it is essential to give the impression of a texture no thinner than that of a part written for both hands.” At the premiere of the work, Ravel, not proficient enough to perform the work with only his left hand, played two-handed and Wittgenstein was reportedly underwhelmed by it. But later Wittgenstein stated, “Only much later, after I’d studied the concerto for months, did I become fascinated by it and realized what a great work it was.” In 1933, Wittgenstein played the work in concert for the first time to instant acclaim. Critic Henry Prunières wrote, “From the opening measures, we are plunged into a world in which Ravel has but rarely introduced us.” Ravel dedicated the work to his favorite pianist, Marguerite Long, who played it and popularized it across Europe in over twenty cities, and they recorded it together during 1932. EMI later reissued the 1932 recording on LP and CD. Although Ravel was listed as the conductor on the original 78-rpm discs, it is possible he merely supervised the recording.

Ravel, ever modest, was bemused by the critics' sudden favor of him since his American tour, “Didn’t I represent to the critics for a long time the most perfect example of insensitivity and lack of emotion?... And the successes they have given me in the past few years are just as unimportant.” However, afterwards he began to experience aphasia-like symptoms and was frequently absent-minded. He had begun work on music for a film, ''Adventures of Don Quixote'' (1933) from Miguel de Cervantes's celebrated novel, featuring the Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin and directed by G. W. Pabst. When Ravel became unable to compose, and could not write down the musical ideas he heard in his mind, Pabst hired Jacques Ibert. However, three songs for baritone and orchestra that Ravel composed for the film were later published under the title ''Don Quichotte a Dulcinée'', and have been performed and recorded. This accords with an earlier article, published in a journal of neurology, that closely examines Ravel's clinical history and argues that his works ''Boléro'' and Piano Concerto for the Left Hand both indicate the impacts of neurological disease. This is contradicted somewhat, however, by the earlier cited comments by Ravel about how he created the deliberately repetitious theme for ''Boléro''.

In late 1937, Ravel consented to experimental brain surgery. One hemisphere of his brain was re-inflated with serous fluid. He awoke from the surgery, called for his brother Édouard, lapsed into a coma and died shortly afterwards at the age of 62. Ravel probably died as a result of the brain surgery, with the underlying cause arguably being a brain injury caused by the automobile accident in 1932, and not from a brain tumor as some believe. This confusion may arise because his friend George Gershwin had died from a brain tumor only five months earlier. Ravel was buried with his parents in a granite tomb at the cemetery at Levallois-Perret, a suburb of northwest Paris.

Personal life

Ravel is not known to have had any intimate relationships, and his personal life, and especially his sexuality, remains a mystery. Ravel made a remark at one time suggesting that because he was such a perfectionist composer, so devoted to his work, he could never have a lasting intimate relationship with anyone. However, according to close friend and student Manuel Rosenthal, he asked violinist Hélène Jourdan-Mourhange to marry him, although she dismissed him, saying 'No, Maurice, I'm extremely fond of you, as you know, but only as a friend, and I couldn't possibly consider marrying you.'. He is quoted as saying "The only love affair I have ever had was with music". Some of his friends suggested that Ravel frequented the bordellos of Paris, but no factual evidence has ever been found to substantiate this rumor.

A recent hypothesis presented by David Lamaze, a composition teacher at the Conservatoire de Rennes in France, is that he hid in his music representations of the nickname and the name of Misia Godebska, transcribed into two groups of notes, Godebska = G D E B A and Misia = Mi + Si + A = E B A. He was invited onto her boat during a 1905 cruise on the Rhine after his failure at the Prix de Rome, for which her husband, Alfred Edwards, organized a scandal in the newspapers. This same man owned the Casino de Paris where the Ravel family had a number staged, ''Tourbillon de la mort'' (A Car Somersault). The family of her half-brother, Cipa Godebski, is said to have been like a second family for Ravel. In 1907 on Misia's boat ''L'Aimée'', Ravel completed ''L'heure espagnole'' and the ''Rapsodie espagnole,'' and at the premiere of ''Daphnis et Chloé'', Ravel arrived late and did not go to his box but to Misia's, where he offered her a Japanese doll. In her memoires, Misia hid all these facts.

Musicality

Musical sources

Active during a period of great artistic innovations and diversification, Ravel benefited from many sources and influences, though his music defies any facile classification. As Vladimir Jankélévitch notes in his biography, "no influence can claim to have conquered him entirely […]. Ravel remains ungraspable behind all these masks which the snobbery of the century has attempted to impose."

Ravel's musical language was ultimately very original, neither absolutely modernist nor impressionist. Like Debussy, Ravel categorically refused this description of “impressionist” which he believed was reserved exclusively for painting.

Ravel was a remarkable synthesist of disparate styles. His music matured early into his innovative and distinct style. As a student, he studied the scores of composers of the past methodically: as he stated, "in order to know one's own craft, one must study the craft of others." Though he liked the new French music, during his youth Ravel still felt fond of the older French styles of Franck and the Romanticism of Beethoven and Wagner. Following the teachings of Gédalge, Ravel placed high importance on melody, once stating to Vaughan Williams, that there is "an implied melodic outline in all vital music." He was inspired by various dances, his favorite being the minuet, composing the ''Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn'' during 1908, to commemorate the centenary of the death of Joseph Haydn. Other forms from which Ravel drew material include the forlane, rigaudon, waltz, czardas, habanera, passacaglia, and the boléro.

He believed that composers should be aware of both individual and national consciousness. For him, Basque music was influential. He intended to write an earlier concerto, ''Zazpiak Bat'', but it was never finished. The title is a result of his Basque heritage: meaning 'The Seven Are One' (see ''Zazpiak Bat''), it refers to the seven Basque regions, and was a motto often used in association with the idea of a Basque nation. Instead, Ravel abandoned the piece, using its nationalistic themes and rhythms in some of his other pieces. Ravel also used other folk themes including Hebraic, Greek, and Hungarian.

Ravel has almost always been considered one of the two great French impressionist composers, the other being Debussy. In reality Ravel was much more than an Impressionist (and in fact he resented being labelled as such). For example, he made extensive use of rollicking jazz tunes in his Piano Concerto in G Major in the first and third movements. Ravel also imitates Paganini's and Liszt's virtuoso gypsy themes and technique in ''Tzigane''. In his ''À la manière de...Borodine'' (''In the manner of...Borodin''), Ravel plays with the ability to both mimic and remain original. In a more complex situation, ''A la maniere de...Emmanuel Chabrier/Paraphrase sur un air de Gounod ("Faust IIème acte")'', Ravel takes on a theme from Gounod's ''Faust'' and arranges it in the style of Chabrier. He also composed short pieces in the manner of Haydn and his teacher Fauré. Even in writing in the style of others, Ravel's own voice as a composer remained distinct.

Ravel considered himself in many ways a classicist. He often relied on traditional forms, such as the ternary form, as well as traditional structures as ways of presenting his new melodic and rhythmic content, and his innovative harmonies. Ravel stated, "If I were called upon to do so, I would ask to be allowed to identify myself with the simple pronouncements made by Mozart ... He confined himself to saying that there is nothing that music cannot undertake to do, or dare, or portray, provided it continues to charm and always remain music." He often masked the sections of his structure with transitions that disguised the beginnings of the motif. This is apparent in his ''Valses nobles et sentimentales'' – inspired by Franz Schubert's collections, ''Valses nobles'' and ''Valses sentimentales'' – where the seven movements begin and end without pause, and in his chamber music where many movements are in sonata-allegro form, hiding the change from developmental sections to recapitulation.

From his own experience, Ravel was cognizant of the effect of new music on the ears of the public and he insightfully wrote:

On the initial performance of a new musical composition, the first impression of the public is generally one of reaction to the more superficial elements of its music, that is to say, to its external manifestations rather than to its inner content…often it is not until years after, when the means of expression have finally surrendered all their secrets, that the real inner emotion of the music becomes apparent to the listener.

Methods

His own composing method was craftsman-like and perfectionistic. Igor Stravinsky once referred to Ravel as "the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers", a reference to the intricacy and precision of Ravel's works. Ravel might work on a piece over several years to develop it to the best possible result, “My objective, therefore, is technical perfection. I can strive unceasingly to this end, since I am certain of never being able to attain it. The important thing is to get nearer to it all the time.”

More specifically he stated:

”In my own compositions I judge a long period of conscious gestation necessary. During this interval I come progressively, and with growing precision, to see the form and the evolution that the final work will take in its tonality. Thus I can be occupied for several years without writing a single note of the work, after which composition goes relatively quickly. But one must spend much time in eliminating all that could be regarded as superfluous in order to realize as completely as possible the definitive clarity so much desired. The moment arrives when new conceptions must be formulated for the final composition, but they cannot be artificially forced for they come only of their own accord, often deriving their original from some far-off perception and only manifesting themselves after long years.” For example, ''Gaspard de la nuit'' can be viewed as an extension of Liszt’s virtuosity and advanced harmonics. Even Ravel’s most difficult pieces, however, are marked by elegance and refinement. Walter Gieseking found some of Ravel’s piano works to be among the most difficult pieces for the instrument but always based on “musically perfectly logical concepts”; not just technically demanding but also requiring the right expression. In writing for the other sections, he often preferred to score ''in tutti'' to produce a full, clear resonance. To add surprise and added color, the melody might start with one instrument and be continued with another.

Because of his perfectionism and methods, Ravel’s musical output over four decades is quite small. Most of his works were thought out over considerable lengths of time, then notated quickly, and refined painstakingly. When a piece would not progress, he would abandon a piece until inspired anew. There are only about sixty compositions in all, of which slightly more than half are instrumental. Ravel’s body of work includes pieces for piano, chamber works, two piano concerti, ballet music, opera, and song cycles.

Ravel crafted his manuscripts meticulously, and relentlessly polished and corrected them. He destroyed hundreds of sketches and even re-copied entire autographs to correct one mistake. Early printed editions of his works were prone to errors so he worked painstakingly with his publisher, Durand, to correct them. One London critic stated "His baton is not the magician's wand of a virtuoso conductor. He just stood there beating time and keeping watch." As to how his music was to be played, Ravel was always clear and direct with his instructions.

Though never a paid critic as Debussy had been, Ravel had strong opinions on historical and contemporary music and musicians, which influenced his younger contemporaries. In creating his own music, he tended to avoid the more monumental composers as models, finding relatively little kinship with or inspiration from Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Hector Berlioz, or Franck. However, as an outspoken commentator on the Romantic giants, he found much of Beethoven "exasperating", Wagner's influence "pernicious" and Berlioz's harmony "clumsy". He had considerable admiration for other 19th century masters such as Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn, and Schubert. Despite what he considered its technical deficiencies, Ravel was a strong advocate of Russian music and praised its spontaneity, orchestral color, and exoticism.

Notable compositions

''Menuet antique'' (piano, 1895, orchestrated in 1929)

''Shéhérazade (ouverture de féerie)'' (1897)

''Pavane pour une infante défunte'' ("Pavane for a dead infanta") (piano 1899, orchestra 1910)

''Jeux d'eau'' (piano, 1901)

String Quartet in F major (1902–3)

''Shéhérazade'' (orchestral song cycle, 1903) Setting poems by his friend Tristan Klingsor

''Sonatine'' (piano, 1903–1905)

''Introduction and Allegro'' (pedal harp, flute, clarinet, string quartet, 1905)

''Miroirs'' ("Reflections") (piano, 1905):

*''Noctuelles'' ("Night moths")

*''Oiseaux tristes'' ("Sad birds")

*''Une barque sur l'océan'' ("A boat on the ocean"; orchestrated 1906)

*''Alborada del Gracioso'' ("Dawn song of the jester"; orchestrated 1918)

*''La vallée des cloches'' ("Valley of the bells")

''Histoires naturelles'' ("Tales from nature") (song cycle for voice and piano, text by Jules Renard, 1906)

''Pièce en forme de Habanera'' (bass voice and piano, 1907)

''Rapsodie espagnole'' ("Spanish Rhapsody") (orchestra, 1907)

''L'heure espagnole'' ("The Spanish Hour") (opera, 1907–1909)

''Gaspard de la nuit'' ("Demons of the night") (piano, 1908)

''Ma Mère l'Oye'' ("Mother Goose") (piano duet 1908–1910, orchestrated 1911, expanded into ballet 1912)

''Daphnis et Chloé'' ("Daphnis and Chloé") (ballet, 1909–1912)

''Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé'', (voice, piano, flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet and string quartet, 1913)

''Valses nobles et sentimentales'' ("Noble and Sentimental Waltzes") (piano 1911, orchestra 1912)

Piano Trio A minor (1914)

''Le Tombeau de Couperin'' ("Tombeau for Couperin"; piano 1914–1917; movements I, III, IV and V orchestrated 1919)

*I. Prelude

*II. Fugue

*III. Forlane

*IV. Rigaudon

*V. Minuet

*VI. Toccata

''La Valse'' (choreographic poem, 1906–1914 and 1919–1920)

Sonata for Violin and Cello in C Major (1920–1922)

''Chansons Madécasses'' ("Songs of Madagascar") (voice, flute, cello and piano, text by Evariste Parny, 1926)

''L'enfant et les sortilèges'' ("The Child and the Spells", lyric fantasy, 1920–1925, libretto by Colette 1917)

''Tzigane'' (violin and piano, 1924)

Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major (1923–1927)

''Fanfare'' (1927; for the children's ballet ''L'Éventail de Jeanne'', to which ten French composers each contributed a dance)

''Boléro'' (ballet, 1928)

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major (1929–1930; composed for Paul Wittgenstein)

Piano Concerto in G (1929–1931)

''Don Quichotte à Dulcinée'' ("Serenade of Don Quixote to Dulcinea"; voice and piano, 1932–1933)

Media depictions

Canadian filmmaker Larry Weinstein has produced two documentaries about Ravel, ''Ravel'' (1987) and ''Ravel's Brain'' (2001). The second of these two films dramatizes the musician's illness and death.

Maurice Ravel is played as a "bit role" by actor Oscar Loraine in the 1945 Gershwin film biography ''Rhapsody in Blue''.

See also

Compositions by Maurice Ravel

Expressionism

Impressionist music

Ravel scale

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

}}

Free Scores

www.kreusch-sheet-music.net – Free Scores by Ravel

Miscellaneous

Maurice Ravel Frontispice at www.maurice-ravel.net

Epitonic.com: Maurice Ravel featuring a track from ''Miroirs'' and ''Gaspard De La Nuit''

Biography of Maurice Ravel

The mystery of the missing Bolero millions – an artist's rights saga! – and a tale of greed?

Many quotations about Ravel's personality

Maurice Ravel "Vocalise Etude en form de Habanera" sung by Varda Kotler.

Recordings

Piano Rolls (The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation)

Maurice Ravel on Wikilivres

Category:1875 births Category:1937 deaths Category:People from Labourd Category:French people of Basque descent Category:French people of Swiss descent Category:French composers Category:Opera composers Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Expressionism Category:Modernist composers Category:Neoclassical composers Category:French classical pianists Category:French-Basque people Category:Ballet composers Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Category:Légion d'honneur refusals Category:Prix Blumenthal Category:Jurors of the International Chopin Competition Category:Basque classical musicians

an:Maurice Ravel ast:Maurice Ravel be:Марыс Равель br:Maurice Ravel bg:Морис Равел ca:Maurice Ravel cs:Maurice Ravel co:Maurice Ravel cy:Maurice Ravel da:Maurice Ravel de:Maurice Ravel et:Maurice Ravel el:Μωρίς Ραβέλ es:Maurice Ravel eo:Maurice Ravel ext:Maurice Ravel eu:Maurice Ravel fa:موریس راول fr:Maurice Ravel fy:Maurice Ravel gl:Maurice Ravel ko:모리스 라벨 hr:Maurice Ravel io:Maurice Ravel ia:Maurice Ravel is:Maurice Ravel it:Maurice Ravel he:מוריס ראוול hy:Մորիս Ռավել ka:მორის რაველი la:Mauricius Ravel lv:Moriss Ravēls lb:Maurice Ravel lt:Maurice Ravel hu:Maurice Ravel mk:Морис Равел nl:Maurice Ravel ja:モーリス・ラヴェル no:Maurice Ravel nn:Maurice Ravel oc:Maurice Ravel pcd:Maurice Ravel pms:Maurice Ravel nds:Maurice Ravel pl:Maurice Ravel pt:Maurice Ravel ro:Maurice Ravel ru:Равель, Морис scn:Maurice Ravel simple:Maurice Ravel sk:Maurice Ravel sl:Maurice Ravel sr:Морис Равел sh:Maurice Ravel fi:Maurice Ravel sv:Maurice Ravel tr:Maurice Ravel uk:Моріс Жозеф Равель vi:Maurice Ravel zh:莫里斯·拉威爾

Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (, ''Vladimir Davidovič Aškenazi;'' born July 6, 1937) is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Life

Ashkenazy was born in Gorky, Soviet Union (now Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) to the pianist and composer David Ashkenazi, and to the actress Yevstolia Grigorievna born Plotnova. His father was Jewish and his mother was the daughter of a family of Russian Orthodox peasants. He began playing piano at the age of six and, showing prodigious talent, was accepted to the Central Music School at age eight studying with Anaida Sumbatyan. Ashkenazy went on to graduate from the Moscow Conservatory where he studied with Lev Oborin and Boris Zemliansky, winning second prize in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and the first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels in 1956. He shared the first prize in the 1962 International Tchaikovsky Competition with British pianist John Ogdon. As a student, like many in that period, he was harassed by the KGB to become an "informer". He did not really cooperate, and despite pressures from the authorities, in 1961 married the Iceland-born Þórunn Jóhannsdóttir, who studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory. In order to marry Ashkenazy, Þórunn was forced to give up her Icelandic citizenship and declare that she wanted to live in the USSR.

After numerous bureaucratic procedures, the Soviet authorities several times agreed to the Ashkenazys to go to the West for musical performances and for visits to his parents-in-law with their first grandson, but in 1963 Ashkenazy decided to leave the USSR permanently, establishing residence first in London where his wife's parents lived.

Ashkenazy moved to Iceland with his wife in 1968 and became an Icelandic citizen in 1972. In 1978, the couple, with five children (Vladimir Stefan, Nadia Liza, Dimitri Thor, Sonia Edda, and Alexandra Inga), moved to Switzerland.

Career

Vladimir Ashkenazy is renowned for his performances of Romantic and Russian composers.

He has recorded Bach's ''The Well-Tempered Clavier''; the complete 24 Preludes and Fugues of Shostakovich; the complete sonatas by Beethoven and Scriabin; the complete works for piano by Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Schumann; and seven of Liszt's 12 Transcendental Études. He has also recorded the piano concertos of Mozart (conducting from the keyboard with the Philharmonia Orchestra); Beethoven (with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti; with Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic; and conducting from the piano with the Cleveland Orchestra); Brahms (No. 1 with Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw Orchestra; and No. 2 with Bernard Haitink and the Vienna Philharmonic); Bartók (with Georg Solti and the London Philharmonic Orchestra); Prokofiev (with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra); and Rachmaninoff (with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra, and with Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw Orchestra). He has also performed and recorded chamber music.

Midway through his pianistic career, Ashkenazy branched into conducting. He has particularly been praised for his recordings of orchestral works by Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Scriabin, Richard Strauss and Stravinsky.

He was the principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1994, and was principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003. He became musical director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2004.

Besides these positions, Ashkenazy is conductor laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor laureate of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra, with which he performs regularly.

Ashkenazy has also appeared in several Christopher Nupen music films, conducting extracts from the composer profiled, including Ottorino Respighi and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and performing at the piano.

He succeeded Gianluigi Gelmetti as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in January 2009.

He has also made his own orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's piano suite ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' (1982).

Ashkenazy is also known for his unique habits in solo piano performance: spurning coat and tie in favor of a white turtleneck and black suit; running (not walking) on stage to the piano; and running off stage after finishing and taking his bow.

There has been a CD produced of his works named 'The Art of Ashkenazy', and a biography of Ashkenazy, 'Beyond Frontiers', has been published.

Awards and recognition

1955 International Chopin Piano Competition, Warsaw (Second prize)

1956 Queen Elisabeth Music Competition for piano, Brussels

1962 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow

2000 Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducting corps

Current president of the Rachmaninoff Society.

;Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):

1974 ''Beethoven: The Piano Concertos (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Georg Solti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)''

;Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

1979 ''Beethoven: Sonatas for Violin and Piano (Itzhak Perlman & Vladimir Ashkenazy)''

1982 ''Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell)''

1988 ''Beethoven: The Complete Piano Trios (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell)''

;Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance:

1986 ''Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit; Pavane pour une infante défunte; Valses nobles et sentimentales''

2000 ''Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87''

References

External links

Vladimir Ashkenazy at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra

Vladimir Ashkenazy at the Philharmonia Orchestra, London

Piano Competitions & Music Competitions by Bakitone International

An interview with Ashkenazy on Shostakovich

Classical Archives Interview

{{s-ttl | title = Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra | years = 2009 – present}}

Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Icelandic conductors (music) Category:Icelandic expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Soviet classical pianists Category:Soviet conductors (music) Category:Soviet defectors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Moscow Conservatory alumni Category:Prize-winners of the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition Category:Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition Category:Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition Category:Jurors of the International Chopin Competition Category:Russian emigrants Category:Immigrants to Iceland Category:Naturalised citizens of Iceland Category: Icelandic Jews

ca:Vladimir Ashkenazy cy:Vladimir Ashkenazy de:Wladimir Dawidowitsch Aschkenasi es:Vladímir Áshkenazi fr:Vladimir Ashkenazy gl:Vladimir Ashkenazy ko:블라디미르 아시케나지 is:Vladímír Ashkenazy it:Vladimir Davidovič Aškenazi he:ולדימיר אשכנזי nl:Vladimir Asjkenazi ja:ウラディーミル・アシュケナージ no:Vladimir Asjkenazi pl:Władimir Aszkenazy pt:Vladimir Ashkenazy ro:Vladimir Așkenazi ru:Ашкенази, Владимир Давидович simple:Vladimir Ashkenazy fi:Vladimir Ashkenazy sv:Vladimir Asjkenazi uk:Ашкеназі Володимир Давидович zh:弗拉基米尔·达维多维奇·阿什肯纳齐

Martha Argerich (born June 5, 1941 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine concert pianist.

Early life

Argerich was born in Buenos Aires and started playing the piano at age three (the provenance of the name Argerich is uncertain: some say it is Catalan, while others maintain it originates from Croatia). At the age of five, she moved to teacher Vincenzo Scaramuzza who stressed to her the importance of lyricism and feeling. Argerich gave her debut concert in 1949 at the age of eight. The family moved to Europe in 1955 where Argerich studied with Friedrich Gulda in Austria. Juan Perón, then the president of Argentina, made their decision possible by appointing her parents to diplomatic posts in the Argentine Embassy in Vienna. She later studied with Stefan Askenase and Maria Curcio. Argerich also seized opportunities for brief periods of coaching with Madeleine Lipatti (widow of Dinu Lipatti), Abbey Simon, and Nikita Magaloff . In 1957, at sixteen, she won both the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition, within three weeks of each other. It was at the latter that she met Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli whom she would later seek out for lessons during a personal artistic crisis at the age of twenty, though she only had four lessons with him in a year and a half. Her greatest influence was Gulda, with whom she studied for 18 months.

Professional career

Argerich rose to international prominence when she won the seventh International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965, at age 24. In 1966, she debuted in the United States in the Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series. In the same year, she also made her first recording, including works by Chopin, Brahms, Ravel, Prokofiev, and Liszt, which received critical acclaim. In 1965, she recorded Chopin's Scherzo No. 3, Polonaise, Op. 53, and other short works in the later years.

Argerich has often remarked in interviews of feeling "lonely" on stage during solo performances. Since the 1980s, she has staged few solo performances, instead focusing on concertos and, in particular, chamber music, and accompanying instrumentalists in sonatas. She is noted especially for her recordings of 20th century works by composers such as Rachmaninoff, Messiaen and Prokofiev. One notable compilation pairs Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 (recorded in December 1982 with the Radio Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under direction of Riccardo Chailly) with Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 (February 1980, Symphonie Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Kirill Kondrashin).

Argerich is also famous for her interpretation of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, and Bach's Partita No. 2 in C Minor, which she has recorded several times and continues to perform.

Argerich has also promoted younger pianists, both through her annual festival and through her frequent appearances as a member of the jury at important competitions. The pianist Ivo Pogorelić was thrust into the musical spotlight partly as a result of Argerich's actions: after he was eliminated in the third round of the 1980 International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Argerich proclaimed him a "genius" and left the jury in protest. She has supported several artists including Gabriela Montero and Sergio Tiempo.

Argerich is president of the International Piano Academy Lake Como and performs each year at the Lugano Festival, Switzerland. She also created and has been General Director of the Argerich Music Festival and Encounter in Beppu, Japan, since 1996.

Her aversion to the press and publicity has resulted in her remaining out of the limelight for most of her career. Nevertheless she is widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of her time.

Personal life

Argerich has been married three times. Her first marriage was to composer-conductor Robert Chen, with whom she had a daughter, Lyda Chen, who is a violist. From 1969 to 1973, Argerich was married to conductor Charles Dutoit, with whom she had a daughter, Anna. Argerich continues to record and perform with Dutoit. Her third husband was pianist Stephen Kovacevich, with whom she had a daughter, Stephanie.

In 1990, Argerich was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. After treatment, the cancer went into remission, but there was a reoccurrence in 1995, eventually metastasizing to her lungs and lymph nodes. Following aggressive treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute, which included the removal of part of her lung and use of an experimental vaccine, Argerich's cancer went into remission again. In gratitude, Argerich performed a Carnegie Hall recital benefiting the Institute. As of 2010, Argerich remains cancer-free.

Awards

The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette 2005 Japan

Praemium Imperiale 2005 Japan

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):

*Claudio Abbado (conductor), Martha Argerich and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for ''Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3'' (2006)

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

*Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev for ''Prokofiev (Arr. Pletnev): Cinderella Suite for Two Pianos/Ravel: Ma Mere L'Oye'' (2005)

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)

*Charles Dutoit (conductor), Martha Argerich and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for ''Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3/Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3'' (2000)

Claudio Arrau Memorial Medal (1997)

International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition: 1st prize (1965)

Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition: 1st prize (1957)

Geneva International Music Competition: 1st prize (1957)

Gunchoo's Favourite Pianist Award

See also

Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Martha Argerich

Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Martha Argerich II

List of Argentines

References

External links

"Argerich--Discography," (August 11, 1999)

Ross, Alex; 'Madame X', November 12, 2001, a profile of Argerich in ''The New Yorker''

''Martha Argerich, evening talks'', the award-winning documentary film about Argerich by ''Georges Gachot'' - (imdb link)

Orga, Ates, ''River Plate Queen'' (1978, 2006), an interview with Argerich first published in the 1979 ''International Music Guide''

MUSIC FESTIVAL Argerich's Meeting Point in Beppu, a music festival sponsored by the Argerich Arts Foundation of Beppu, Japan

The Martha Argerich Project

Argerich Music news, concert schedule, articles, recordings

Argerich's repertoire through the years

Martha Argerich biography, CD and concert review by cosmopolis.ch

Martha Argerich Project Brings Talent to Lugano by ''Euro News'', June 15, 2009

Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Argentine classical pianists Category:Chopin Competition winners Category:Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires Category:People from Buenos Aires Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Classical piano duos Category:Prize-winners of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Jurors of the International Chopin Competition

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Christoph Eschenbach (), born February 20, 1940, Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) is a German-born pianist and conductor. He currently holds positions in Washington, D.C. as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and music director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Early life

Eschenbach's parents were Margarethe (née Jaross) and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned during World War II. His mother died giving birth to him; his father, a politically active anti-Nazi, was sent to the Eastern front as part of a Nazi punishment battalion where he was killed. As a result of this trauma, Eschenbach did not speak for a year, until he was asked if he wanted to play music. Wallydore Eschenbach (née Jaross), his mother's cousin, adopted him in 1946 and began to teach him to play the piano. At age 11, he attended a concert conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler which had a great impact on the youngster. In 1955 Eschenbach enrolled at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, studying piano with Hans-Otto Schmidt-Neuhaus and conducting with Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg.

Musical career

As a pianist, Eschenbach has won numerous first-place piano competition prizes, including first prize in the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland in 1965. In 1964, he made his first recording (of Mozart) for Deutsche Grammophon and signed a contract with the label. Eschenbach continued to study conducting with George Szell, with whom he worked for more than three years. In addition, Herbert von Karajan was his mentor for nearly twenty-five years.

In 1981, Eschenbach became principal guest conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and was chief conductor from 1982 to 1986. Other posts have included Music Director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1988–1999), where he now holds the title of Conductor Laureate; co-artistic director of the Pacific Music Festival, from 1992 to 1998; chief conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg (1998–2004); and music director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1994–2005). In addition, he was artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival from 1999 until 2003. Since 2000, Eschenbach has been the Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris; in May 2007, it was announced that Eschenbach would conclude his tenure with the Orchestre de Paris in 2010. In addition, from 2003 till 2008 Eschenbach was the Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 2010 he assumed his position as Music Director of both the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Christoph Eschenbach has made more than 80 recordings as piano soloist, conductor, or both, has appeared in several television documentaries, and has made many concert broadcasts for different European, Japanese and U.S. networks.

Having received great mentoring guidance in his early years as a conductor through both Herbert von Karajan and George Szell, Eschenbach is credited with helping and supporting talented young musicians in their career development, including soprano Renée Fleming, pianists Tzimon Barto and Lang Lang, cellists Claudio Bohórquez, and Daniel Müller-Schott, and soprano Marisol Montalvo.

Houston Symphony

Eschenbach was music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra from 1988 to 1999. In that period, he has been credited with enhancing the symphony's both in terms of national and international prominence and well as musical quality. The orchestra toured Japan and Europe under his tenure as well made several recordings with Koch International Classics and RCA. Eschenbach's era was marked by a strong relationship with the musicians, who admired him on and off the stage.

Yet the most pronounced characteristic of Eschenbach's tenure has been the continuing worship of him by the orchestra's musicians. "He's the kind of person who inspires absolute loyalty," said Fliegel, who ticked off some of the things that have made Eschenbach so unusual. "With him all rehearsals are special. They're so instructive." Eschenbach always seems to find a new detail to emphasize or a new insight to impart, even with pieces everyone has played many times.

The musicians have also adored Eschenbach's sensitivity to them as human beings. In the months before Fliegel retired in September 1995, for example, his wife was seriously ill; Eschenbach showed great sensitivity to Fliegel's schedule in caring for her. ...

The Houston Symphony has had an extraordinary list of music directors during Fliegel's association with the orchestra, but Fliegel ranks Eschenbach first.

In honor of his many achievements and tenure with the Houston Symphony, the City of Houston placed a bronze commemorative star with his name in front of Jones Hall, the performance home of the Houston symphony.

Philadelphia Orchestra

Eschenbach was named the seventh Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, effective as of 2003. Some considered this a controversial appointment because, at the time of the announcement, Eschenbach had not conducted the orchestra in over 4 years and there was a perceived lack of personal chemistry between him and the musicians prior to the appointment. One musician from the orchestra had stated, after the announcement:

"'When this announcement was proclaimed after a half-hour meeting with us, there wasn't applause; there was criticism,' recalled a musician with the Philadelphia Orchestra. 'One member of the search committee got up and said, "You'll see, you'll like him."

'The orchestra was taken aback by the attitude because there was no meeting to verify what we thought,' the musician said. 'There was no chemistry with Eschenbach. He hasn't conducted us in four or five years and 20 to 30 persons had never played with him.'"

In a 2004 article, Eschenbach tried to downplay such statements, and noted his own particular style of interpretation:

"I prefer to have flexible tempos and not be fixed. Quicker tempos tend to court superficiality."

Partway into his tenure, his initial 3-year contract was renewed to 2008.

However, in October 2006, the orchestra and Eschenbach announced that he would conclude his tenure in Philadelphia at the close of the 2007-2008 season. In the weeks prior to his departure, ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' music critics Peter Dobrin and David Patrick Stearns had contrasting articles whether or not he should be retained, with Dobrin suggesting that Eschenbach should move on and Stearns arguing that Eschenbach should remain. Other harsh criticism of Eschenbach's tenure in Philadelphia has been aired.

Following the announcement, Dobrin in the ''Inquirer'' wrote that Eschenbach's tenure in Philadelphia has been difficult for many musicians:

"In three seasons, Eschenbach and the orchestra have produced a handful of brilliant concerts. More often, though, his rehearsals and performances have elicited a long list of complaints from musicians: getting lost in the score at concerts; leading disorganized rehearsals and then asking for overtime; and insisting on a peculiar rushing and slowing of tempos."

The paper also cited a number of accomplishments including a new recording contract and the appointment of nine musicians, four of whom were principals. In addition, Eschenbach has received praise for his work in fund-raising for the orchestra.

Following the announcement and Dobrin's ''Inquirer'' article, The Philadelphia Orchestra Association posted a letter on its website, dated 27 October 2006, which also was sent by e-mail to orchestra patrons. A quote from this letter condemned Dobrin's criticism:

"We, and many in the community, feel that in recent press coverage there have been personal attacks on Maestro Eschenbach, along with negative innuendo about his relationship with The Philadelphia Orchestra. ...These types of comments about Maestro Eschenbach and our orchestra are ridiculous, offensive and defamatory. Our entire orchestra family is profoundly disappointed when reporters report the news in such an ungracious way."

Dobrin, in turn, responded in a 29 October 2006 ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' article by quoting one of his 2001 ''Inquirer'' articles around the time of the Eschenbach announcement:

"....let me quote from something I wrote in March 2001 that might be an important reminder about how we got to this dangerous place:

''It hit many musicians like the dull thud of pragmatism, this decision in January to hire Eschenbach as the orchestra's seventh music director, starting in September 2003. At a meeting announcing the decision, players responded with silence. No applause, no excited stamping of feet. Silence. And then the resentment poured forth.

One musician used the word "underwhelmed." Another said he felt "betrayed."...''

This contrasts with earlier reports of how the musicians "had input" in the choice of the previous Philadelphia music director, Wolfgang Sawallisch. In addition, the new orchestra president (as of 2006), James Undercofler, had spoken with orchestra musicians, and had told Eschenbach this summary of his discussions with them:

"-that 80 percent of the musicians did not agree with his artistic interpretations;
-that 80 percent of the musicians left concerts feeling great anger;
-and that the orchestra was a "ticking time bomb."

In an article by Cragg Hines in the newspaper ''The Washingtonian'' on December 1, 2009 Eschenbach was quoted:

"They said there was a survey of the whole orchestra and more than 80 percent of the orchestra was against me. I asked the management 'was that true?' and was told, ‘Yes, it's true.' It was not true at all. As I found out a little later, this survey never happened [...] All of the musicians regretted very, very much that [it] was reported like this."

In a 2007 article, Mark Swed of the ''Los Angeles Times'' has written about the Eschenbach/Philadelphia Orchestra situation:

"{Eschenbach} is one of the world's finest musicians and widely recognized as such. He has ideas. He has sophisticated tastes. He is cosmopolitan. He is an exciting interpreter. Colleagues speak of him warmly, and he is a favorite accompanist for singers.....So what's wrong? Just about everything. It is well known that the orchestra opposed the hiring of Eschenbach. He hadn't conducted in Philadelphia for five years when the appointment was made, and a memo was leaked to the press with 75 players' signatures asking management to hold off any decision until the orchestra got a chance to work with him. From the beginning, the relationship started off on the wrong foot...But the Philadelphia orchestra has not been exactly transformed by Eschenbach. I've been hearing reports of players looking bored onstage. Audiences walk out during performances. Even two years ago, at my last visit to Verizon Hall, the atmosphere was palpably unpleasant."

In a June 2007 article, Stearns reported Eschenbach as commenting on the Philadelphia Orchestra management as follows:

"The management in both cases [Paris and Philadelphia], I'm sorry to say, is amateurish"...."The management knows what I think ... it's not a secret".

In a July 2007 article, Dobrin emphasized that the problems in the Eschenbach/Philadelphia Orchestra relationship were not related to personality, but rather to musical quality:

"While many refuse to believe it, the factor that has undermined Christoph Eschenbach's tenure is not personality. He's a lovely guy; he and the players have a cordial off-stage relationship. The problem is the music. If 80 percent of the musicians leave concerts angry - as Eschenbach told players that president James Undercofler had told him - that's corrosive to the music and the institution."

In August 2007, the orchestra announced extended guest-conducting periods for Eschenbach with the ensemble in the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, after the scheduled conclusion of his tenure as music director.

Philadelphia Orchestra European tour

Prior to the announcement of Eschenbach's departure from Philadelphia, Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra received both positive and negative reviews during the Orchestra's European Festivals Tour in 2006.

"The members of The Philadelphia Orchestra played as though their lives depended on it. The strings are both sturdy and responsively supple to Eschenbach's calculated spontaneity; their woodwind soloists, particularly the liquid-amber principal clarinet, are to die for."

"[In Hamburg, Eschenbach] was in what might be called Leopold Stokowski mode, drawing out climaxes with apparent spontaneity, sometimes reaching a nearly unbearable state of tension, and handling the tricky transitions with a daring that bordered on brinksmanship."

"The Philadelphia Orchestra, under its Music Director, Christoph Eschenbach, commended itself completely unostentatiously as one of the leading orchestras not only of America, but of the world... One listens to this masterfully delicate playing in near amazement... They are masters of sound."

"Christoph Eschenbach's monumentally slick account of Beethoven's Fifth took the shock of the new out of the shock of the old...The sense of striving in the piece was nowhere. It sat smugly, contentedly, in a comfort zone of its own making.....{Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5} was rendered merely showy by Eschenbach's portentousness."

"Christoph Eschenbach....evinced a passion that was communicated through the orchestral playing as well. In Tchaikovsky's Fifth, there was a mellifluous continuity of thought....In Beethoven's Fifth, Eschenbach exercised similarly good judgment."

"Christoph Eschenbach...gave this over-familiar classic {Beethoven's Symphony No. 5} newly minted status in a reading that never overstepped the line between vehemence and exaggeration.....Tchaikovsky's Fifth followed: the playing reinforced the Philadelphia's reputation as a virtuoso ensemble, with a particularly fine exposition of the second movement's famous horn solo. But Eschenbach's interpretation was less secure, inconsistently maintaining the level of nervous energy needed to fire the symphony's momentum and motivate its grand rhetoric."

"The sound this orchestra makes is legendary...Whether the results are so convincing interpretatively is another matter. The articulation in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was vigorous, if not downright oppressive....A predilection for idiosyncratic gestures became even more pronounced in Eschenbach's reading of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor.....Such idiosyncrasies are unexceptionable, even welcome, when well motivated and provoke reappraisal. Here they seemed perverse....Great sound. Shame about the rest."

National Symphony Orchestra (United States)

On September 25, 2008, the National Symphony Orchestra announced that Eschenbach would become the orchestra's sixth music director in the 2010-11 season, though he is scheduled to conduct subscription concerts and auditions earlier. He was also named to the newly created post of music director of the Kennedy Center.

Honours and awards

Eschenbach was made a ''Chevalier'' (knight) of the French ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'', presented by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres in June 2006; in October 2002, he was present with the ''Legion d'honneur'' by French President Jacques Chirac; and in August 2002, the Officer's Cross with Star and Ribbon of the ''Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'', and the Commander's Cross in 1993. He received the Leonard Bernstein Award (1993) presented to him by the Pacific Music Festival, where he served as co-artistic director from 1992 to 1998.

References

Further reading

Hines, Cragg. "Making Musicians Play Like Devils & Angels", ''Washingtonian'', December 1, 2009.

External links

Christoph Eschenbach official website

Ondine biography of Christoph Eschenbach

Category:1940 births Category:German classical pianists Category:German conductors (music) Category:Living people Category:People from Wrocław Category:Texas classical music Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg

de:Christoph Eschenbach es:Christoph Eschenbach fr:Christoph Eschenbach ko:크리스토프 에셴바흐 it:Christoph Eschenbach he:כריסטוף אשנבאך ja:クリストフ・エッシェンバッハ pt:Christoph Eschenbach ru:Эшенбах, Кристоф fi:Christoph Eschenbach sv:Christoph Eschenbach uk:Крістоф Ешенбах zh:克里斯托弗·埃申巴赫

David Fung (born 17 August 1983) is an Australian concert pianist.

Professional career

In 2002, David Fung won the Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award, after four rounds of competition which culminated in his performance of Rachmaninoff's ''Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini'' with the Sydney Symphony during the concerto finals at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. He has subsequently appeared with the major orchestras of Australia and recorded a CD with the ABC Classics label.

Deciding to pursue a career in music, Fung transferred in 2003 to the Colburn School in Los Angeles to study with John Perry. Fung was the first student of piano to be admitted to the Colburn Conservatory in its inaugural year; in May 2007, he became the first pianist to graduate from the Conservatory.

Major orchestras with which he has worked include the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Queensland Orchestra, among numerous others. Fung has also been invited to give recitals at the some of the world's most important music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, and the 2006 Edinburgh International Festival Queen's Hall Recital Series, where Fung was described as being “prodigiously talented... and probably [doing] ten more impossible things daily before breakfast,” by Jonas Green in the Edinburgh Guide. His recitals at the Edinburgh International Festival were especially well-received.

In 2008, David became a top prizewinner of the 12th Arthur Rubinstein Piano Masters Competition in Tel Aviv, and was awarded the Prize for Best Classical Concerto, and Best Performance of Chamber Music.

Besides the piano, Fung also plays the harpsichord and violin and attended James Ruse Agricultural High School in Sydney.

Awards

The 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition: 4th Prize, Prize for Best Classical Concerto, Prize for Best Chamber Music (2008)

The 3rd Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition: 2nd Prize and Audience Prize (2003)

ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award (2002)

Recordings

In addition to recording for Naxos and ABC Classics, Fung has recorded three albums with Los Angeles-based Yarlung Records.

In 2005, Fung recorded his American debut album with Yarlung Records, ''From Hubris to Humility'', which featured works by Liszt, Bach, and Ravel; his second album, ''Evening Conversations'', released in 2006 also by Yarlung, was devoted to pieces by Mozart, Chopin, Tan Dun, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, and Domenico Scarlatti, and was praised as “an overall favorite” of the 2007 piano albums reviewed by James Harrington in the American Record Guide.

Notes

External links

Official homepage

Category:1983 births Category:Australian classical pianists Category:Living people