Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest olv. Gustavo Dudamel

No less a figure than Sir Simon Rattle assisted in launching the conducting career of Gustavo Dudamel (b. 1981). This concert offers an ideal opportunity to witness the debut of this young Venezuelan in deSingel. It is with a promising programme, played by a first-class orchestra with whom you are well acquainted. Igor Stravinsky (1881-1971) wrote 'Le sacre du printemps' in 1913 on commission to Diaghilev's 'Ballets Russes'. The ballet represents a heathen ritual in which a virgin blessed as a sacrifice dances herself to death. It is only then that spring can begin. 'Le sacre' is a landmark in musical history. As a melodic, rhythmic and harmonic work, it inspired several generations of twentieth-century composers. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) began composing 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' in 1914. He wanted 'to express intimacy, not so much with Couperin himself, but more with the entire French repertoire of the eighteenth century'. Originally 'Le Tombeau' was a six-piece work for solo piano, four parts of which were orchestrated by Ravel in his own inimitable style. The pianist Kirill Gerstein takes you back to Weimar in 1857: Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was Kapellmeister there and his young student Hans von Bronsart played the first performance of his poetic Second Piano Concerto.