I love how this piece is basically a chronicle of the death of “the waltz” with the final twisting of the knife being a four count bar in a 3/4 time signature.
Polyrhythms are everywhere. You can find 4 against 3 very often in modern pop, and whole styles are based around 3 against 2 (or vice versa). It's really not all that radical that Ravel put 4 equally spaced notes in a bar of 3/4, though it's teleologically perfect for the ending of La Valse.
Legit the only piece of music that can lift me up when I am feeling depressed. Not because it made me happy or anything near it. its more like having a friend that acknowledge the absurdity that is life itself; A friend that gently nods and understands you.
So very well put. I always had mental images of ghosts dancing in a ballroom - who did not realize they are ghosts. They just waltz away, not a care in the world, not knowing they are dead. And then I realize they are us.
I like how he's conducting the hell out of the ending but then just lets the last downbeat drop casually because he's like, "good job, orchestra, y'all nailed it, I know this ain't easy."
I love the indescribable atmosphere of this piece, with its mixture of beauty and eeriness. I feel Ravel's genius in the way he maintains harmony at the end of the piece, just before it collapses. I have listened to several performances, but I think that Myung-Whun's conducting brings out the best the characteristics of this piece. And when this piece was written, Ravel was cold-shouldered by Diaghilev along with "Daphnis et Chloe", and I can't help but imagine his concern for Nijinsky.
For me Myung-Whun Chung is a a great conductor,musician and artist.The simplicity,minimalist yet very expressive body language allows the orchestra players ample space for expression in a a clear and most assertive frame.Also and again,in my view his approach to music making is of the highest artistry.
I used to listen to this piece every morning before starting my work. Ravel's La Valse has more caffeine than 5 expressos. The best of all: sitting at the third row watching Zubin Mehta conducting it at the Maggio Fiorentino (Florence, 2015).
This was one of the greatest performances I have ever heard! it was so alive. you can really see the soloists are really into the music. This orchestra played la valse well over a hundred times and to see them so excited about a little passage or a little solo... just incredible!!
What a wonderfully "composed" conductor. If I had been up there I imagine myself tearing my shirt off and finishing the song on my hands and knees haha. Forever and ever my favorite classical piece.
what a beautiful piece of music after hearing gaspard de la nuit and then hearing this i'm really starting to knock myself in the head for not having gotten into Ravel before now.
Very good maestro and, for me, the best french orchestra (with french bassoons !). Written in 1919, it's like a nice austrian Valse beginning at july 1914 and increasingly darkest and finally destroyed by war 1914-18.
Ravel claims that was never his intention, and the setting of the ballet was in 1855 anyway. To me it sounds like the aural equivalent of, say, one of Monet's paintings, but here the "subject" is a Johann Strauss Jr. waltz.
Bravo Chung! No matter how much I love Bernstein, this is absolutely one of the best interpretations of this piece I've ever heard. He plays with extreme speeds so much more than any other conductor, but maintains an almost Viennese style rubato. He concentrates on minutiae phrasing while never breaking the overall structure. He takes so many risks and succeeds. He exemplifies the true nature of the piece, which is about the trust between the players and the conductor. Bravo!
+sandro nebieridze Yes indeed. He's from a very Korean musical family with his sister the brilliant violinist par excel-lance KyungHwa Chung . Their genes are apparently dripping with musical genius. He has an air of mastery seldom seen.
7:06 is my favorite moment. Sounds like you are in a profound and bitter-sweet dream. The dream is so deep that you cannot wake up, but you relish in the pain and cry in joy.
The orchestra and its conductor are all perfect! They set fire to the interpretation of this amazing work that is one of the craziest I know, even if it seems classic!
5:51 - 8:03 - You can really get a feel for the different pacing transitions between different performances of La Valse by comparing this middle passage here ( 2 minutes, 12 sec ) to the same passage in Maestro Myung-Whun Chung's more recent performance of LaValse in 2013 ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BCUbHfjt9qY.html ) - Same passage from 6:05 to 8:23 (2 minutes, 18 sec). That 6-seconds may seem insignificant, but consider the 2013 performance runs in total 37-seconds longer than this version, and I would suggest they create different moods. Maestro Chung chose to conduct certain passages in the more recent performance in a more languished tempo, perhaps to greater accentuate the frenetic ramp-ups that break the more lullful states. That's what I love about La Valse - It's like a Carousel that careens out of control like in Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-75ACQveD9ac.html ) - and controlling the pace of how that happens is how a conductor plays our strings!
Nine minutes in has one of the most amazing crescendos I have heard. And just look at the speed of the celloists. Incredible music, performance and conducting!
I've wondered how this delightfully surreal piece looks conducted live..now I know.Exquisite video...Love it when the strings come in at 2:05..its like Ravel as entered the building and ushered in the ballrooms and gardens of Paris.. :)
Interprétation d'une intériorité parfaite ! Sur un tempo plus lent que bien d'autres, mais plus convaincante à mon sens par cet équilibre subtil entre profondeur, élégance et violence dramatique venant comme des vagues déferlantes, briser la légèreté insouciante de la valse. Magnifique !
Where has this piece been in all my life? Found it today after a tip in a RU-vid comment. I like Ravel, among his many good works he has one of the best string quartets ever written, but somehow I never knew about this gem. Fantastic music.
Eargasm... a word that could have been invented for Ravel's music. And for some reason, I keep imagining the Titanic's band playing that just before going down, even though I know it was composed 7 years after. It sounds so appropriate. Like someone commented below: begining like a fairytale and ending like a nightmare.
I love this rendition. For me he is spot on. I was just listening to some of the Leonard Bernstein of this and it didn't have the punch, the slithering off kilter balance, the sparkle....this is superb. Thank you. I haven't heard it done this well in years. For me this one is excellent.
J'ai dû écouter plusieurs fois cette interprétation avant de l'apprécier... La part belle est faite aux instruments à vent et aux percussions. Et la fin est d'une puissance envoûtante !!!
Résolument, la meilleure exécution de "La Valse" de toutes que j'en ai déjà écoutées. L'orchestre se présente avec une transparence et une sonorité époustouflantes. Tout l'esprit de Ravel y est, indéniablement. Un grand bravo à l'OPRF et à son chef !
The world's most intense waltz!! I don't know anything about anything, but this was super cool! The orchestra and conductor totally destroyed the house with this one! Lastly I wanted to add that this song could be a song that gets you all kinds of pissed off for AAAALLLL the right reasons! This is the type of song that gets you and gets you moody in just the right way. Love it!
This would have been a good song to have in Disney's Fantasia. The music tells a very tangible story that would be easy to animate... I also like how at 12:08, it almost sounds as if they're reversing the audio. (An effect solely created by the instruments.) The song almost seems to be peering into the future and into the way we digitally manipulate music to create certain effects.
LA VALSE DE RAVEL ou petite chronique d'un temps passé protecteur Vienne de Sissi et des valses , Paris , ville lumière , le tout revisité par un temps présent inquiet . °°°°°°°°°°°° Dans "La valse " de Maurice Ravel , nous avons comme un condensé des motivations , des souvenirs , des inquiétudes du compositeur . Cette valse est un souvenir à la fois de son passé d'avant 1900 et comme une volonté protectrice voir cathartique d'une musique à la fois refuge en même temps qu'interrogatrice d'un monde qui s'est annoncé terrible et sans pitié , vu que l'Europe est devenue soudain un charnier de plusieurs millions de morts ainsi qu'un champ de ruines sur de grandes étendues . Le deuxième motif de la valse cite avec quelques modifications , España de Chabrier , et ceci n'est pas anodin car Ravel doit son aspiration pour la composition grâce à ce maître du renouveau, Chabrier . Chabrier décontracte la musique , la déboutonne , et la libère des carcans selon Verlaine en Poésie, des torts de la rime . Le fond de rideau de " la valse ", c'est bien la valse viennoise ou l'ambiance de cet autre Paris autrichien , Vienne , qu' Offenbach et Waldteufel ont amené dans leurs bagages sur les rives de la Seine . Le finale semble amplifié , et même sur-dimensionné , cela a été annoncé par la scansion outrée du gros tambour à certains moments isolés , heureusement pas plus , au début de l'oeuvre . Il y a de l'humour vite étouffé, lorsque les violons semblent avoir perdu la mélodie, ce qui raisonne comme un appel pathétique à la rescousse qui arrive par le grondement des bassons , réponse inquiétante . Le tournoiement des instruments qui successivement entrent dans la danse dans une spirale sans trop de répit semble à peine étouffer une angoisse irrépressible en lien avec quelque chose d'inéluctable , la fin d'un monde . Par cette valse qui se termine en un pugilat terrestre délocalisé dans la poussière d'une terre mutilée ,la musique perd de son enchantement pour ne plus s'élever du sol qui semble se dérober sous un ciel terriblement obscurci . Une masse sonore magmatique , chaotique de fin de morceau frappe l'auditeur comme un monument incontournable par son gigantisme . Tout ceci nous pouvons le mettre en parallèle avec le terrible chaos de la "Grande guerre" de 1914-1918 , par laquelle l'Europe occidentale a basculé soudainement dans un cauchemar jamais vécu et envisageable à une telle intensité en des temps à peine plus anciens ..
J'aimeras bien d'avoir un explication que vous avais exprimee, mon Francess n'est pas ci bon non plus, mais je me trouve un specificie dans tes mons. J'aime les ouvrves de Ravel, Milhaud, Satie , Debussy, , comme tout. Explique moi, si vous voulait
Me gusto mucho .Me parece que la obra de Ravel es como un adelanto de todo lo que oiriamos a finales del siglo XX incluyendo los soundtrack de Holliwood....
That about sums it up correctly. It was written about that time and is indeed a commentary on civilisation trying to keep going in the face of brutality and chaos.
Dieses Choreografische Gedicht für Orchester ist einfach Fantastisch, wirklich erhaben, ein wahres Meisterwerk, Wunderbar sehr gut Gerichtet. Maurice Ravel , "Außergewöhnlich".
After getting a sense of what Ravel is doing here, and letting that sink in for a while, I come away even more in awe of the precision and subtlety of this particular conductor and this orchestra. Wow!
Technically, the piece is a somewhat grim representation of a waltz, in some ways meant to portray how World War I had changed pieces of society and furthermore would forever remain a dark time for Europe in general.
I have no doubt that this is what Ravel intended. The 1920's brought a revolution in all kinds of art. The old world was destroyed by WWI; the new world was with us. One has to understand what he was doing in order to appreciate this, even though his re-working of Strauss' melodies and harmonies was incredible. Once, he changed keys four times in a page! I have the piano version. "La Valse" is one of a kind.
And also a huge fan of Andre Cluytens versions and, for me, he and Chung are on the same page as far as superb, with wondrous differences in nuances/subtleties !
