Ravel: La Valse (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Mikko Franck)

Mikko Franck conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France performing La Valse, choreographed poem composed by Maurice Ravel in 1919-1920. Excerpt from the concert recorded on 21 décembre 2018, live from de Radio France Auditorium.
Daughter of the Polish sculptor Cyprien Godebski (creator of the statue of Mickiewicz in Warsaw and of the medal portrait adorning the tomb of Berlioz in the Montmartre cemetery), granddaughter of Adrien-François Servais (the "Paganini of the cello"), third wife of the Catalan painter José Maria Sert (talented pianist and a childhood acquaintance of Liszt), friend and influence of Coco Chanel, Misia Godebska (1872-1950) was nicknamed "the Queen of Paris". Patron of the Ballets Russes and advisor to their impresario Diaghilev, Godebska even paid in extremis the 4,000 Francs required to keep the costumes initially planned for the premiere of Stravinsky's Petrouchka in 1911.
It is possible that the young Ravel encountered Misia (Polish diminutive for Maria) in the class of Gabriel Fauré in 1897, dedicating to her ten years later his melody "Le Cygne" from his Histoires naturelles. He wrote Ma mère l’Oye in 1910 for the Misia's nephews, the children of his step-brother Cypa Godebski. It is Misia that introduced Ravel to Diaghilev, a meeting that would later lead to the commission of Daphnis et Chloé for the Ballets Russes. In February 1920, six months before officially and religiously becoming Misia Sert, she invited both Ravel and Diaghilev to an artistic soirée in her apartment at the Hôtel Meurice in Paris. In 1962, shortly before her death, Francis Poulenc wrote an article regarding the Ballets Russes for the publication Histoire de la musique published by Pléiade, in which this dans lequel on peut revivre cette scène historique :
"I wish to evoke now a surprising afternoon with Mme Sert, the muse of Diaghilev, better known as Misia. This beloved Misia, painted by Mallarmé, Renoir, Lautrec, and Vuillard, was a close friend of Ravel. Having recently finished La Valse, Ravel wished to see his work staged by the Ballets Russes. A soirée was organised at Misia's to present the work to Diaghilev. Stravinsky was also at the audition and, though still a young musician at the time, I was allowed to sit in a corner and assist quietly. Diaghilev arrived, followed by Massine and the usual directors. Ravel, precise as ever, carefully explained his vision for the work and then performed La Valse for four hands [with Marcelle Meyer]. Diaghilev listened, frowning slightly, since “Ravel was Ravel”, then, the music finished, he sat in silence for a while. Knowing full well that Diaghilev's dull growls and his fidgeting with his eyeglass and false teeth were never good news, I sank deep into my chair hoping to disappear, embarassed to witness such a scene. Finally emerging from the heavy silence that weighed upon us all, Diaghilev exclaimed with great respect but also great candour: "Bravo, Ravel! Bravo, it is very beautiful, but it's not a ballet. This is the portrait of a ballet. It is too short, too summarised. "The sentence had fallen. Misia, to whom La Valse was dedicated and Sert, her husband, the stage director, tried in vain to change his mind. However, Diaghilev remained inflexible. Given that we never managed to stage a choreography worthy of such a masterpiece, it proves that Diaghilev, yet again, was right ".
In a previous interview, Poulenc also stated: "The extraordinary thing was that Stravinsky never said a word. NOTHING! I was stunned. At that point I learned a life lesson in modesty, since Ravel calmly gathered his music, without worrying about what anyone else thought, and left peacefully. Thus was the relationship Stravinsky-Ravel, Ravel-Stravinsky. After Les Noces, Ravel no longer appreciated Stravinsky's music. He did not like, Œdipus-Rex, none of that. And of course, from then on they never saw each again, ever, ever, ever."
Having already composed his Valses nobles et sentimentales, Ravel rejected all possible parallels with the Great War and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, declaring: "I created this work as a kind of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz, with which is mingled in my mind the idea of a fantastic and fatal whirling." According to the musicologist David Lamaze, Ravel's _La Valse (_and indeed various other works) contains a musical homage to Misia using the notes e and b (mi and si in French), and a. Aside from being a musical masterpiece, could La Valse contain a trace of Ravel's romantic turmoil?
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[@pierrenhy3835]

C’est vraiment la plus belle valse du monde entier. En plus, c’est une très bonne version

[@jacopomonaco4686]

une des meilleures interprétations

[@beldeballe]

le générique pendant les dernières mesures les plus emblématiques, le coup de timbale final étouffé par un fondu absurde : quel gâchis !

[@pierrot5406]

c'est vrai dommage, l'interprétation est cependant magnifique, il faut quand même le dire

[@dill_peanuts_]

You could tell everyone in the Orchestra is having a blast. What an amazing performance!

[@trueandika]

Merveilleuse oeuvre à entendre obligatoirement en concert !

[@kaibatakoi8490]

Oeuvre clairement incroyable, bravo aux musiciens qui arrivent s'accorder sur ce chamboule-tout.

[@yholota]

The Best Conductor and Orchestra

[@user-bm6lk8fq2k]

Flute girl is so charming!

[@ecphorizer]

Павло Мизюк That's Magali Mosnier. www.hyperion-records.co.uk/a.asp?a=A12010

[@pierrenhy3835]

La valse la plus fabuleuse de tous les temps

[@hakansundberg5105]

This is amazing! A waltz dance through all European countries and all European history (to begin with), starting somewhere back in ancient Greece with Pan and Daphne and Syrinx, that's what I hear; dancing through all different landscapes and temperaments, even under-water landscapes, and, I didn't know it before, that there are even djungles in Europe, ending in a waltz baccanal - why do some people say that the waltz has a decent character!??

[@jackcohen7778]

This piece is so good... as if it personifies... it is very sophisticated... I'm in awe... 🐎🐆🐕🏁🤗

[@notaire2]

Kultivierte und elegante Aufführung dieses perfekt komponierten Meisterwerks mit farbenreichen doch perfekt vereinigten Tönen aller Instrumente. Der intelligente Maestro dirigiert das ausgezeichnete Orchester im gut phrasierten Tempo und mit perfekt kontrollierter Dynamik. Einfach wunderschön!

[@tatalito]

bravo bravo bravo !!

[@Dylonely42]

Incroyable !

[@claudiopalmeiras6056]

J'aime la France mon amour !

[@wielandwittmann9832]

Captivant. 👍👍👍👏👏👏🙋

[@jazzstandardman]

Exhilarating! But couldn't we just let the piece end properly in this video?

[@maximilianhohmann1773]

Magnifique!

[@mouzicka]

The famous clarinettist Nicolas "Dr. House" Baldeyrou at 1:05 ! :D

[@xibial8925]

MA - GNI - FIQUE

[@giovannismartini479]

4:24 meilleur thème

[@thomasr5740]

Misia

[@Ynaffitnat]

02:55

[@fluff.3194]

On est d'accord il y a des parties qui ressemblent à la musique de Cendrillon et de Disney en général ?

[@nicolasmimouni1582]

Le contraire

[@Fernando-rk3yp]

No concuerdo

[@biancariario9134]

Why is the conductor sitting? Can the brass even see him?

[@aburdiss]

Mikko Franck has chronic back problems, and was confined to conduct from a chair from when he was 19

[@ecphorizer]

Bianca Riario From 2004: Franck is eager to explain his disability. ‘It began with a knee injury, playing football when I was 12,’ he relates. ‘It was a small thing, the patella was displaced, but they made mistakes during the operation and the leg was paralysed. I had many operations. Now the leg works fine, but I overused my right side and my back was affected.' He copes with prosaic stoicism. 'It doesn’t matter,' he insists. 'I conduct with my hands, not with my feet.’ www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/040527-NL-Franck.html

[@lucasgust7720]

WTF!! why on earth he is conducting out of the podium? moreover, he's not even tall.

[@ecphorizer]

From 2004: Franck is eager to explain his disability. ‘It began with a knee injury, playing football when I was 12,’ he relates. ‘It was a small thing, the patella was displaced, but they made mistakes during the operation and the leg was paralysed. I had many operations. Now the leg works fine, but I overused my right side and my back was affected.' He copes with prosaic stoicism. 'It doesn’t matter,' he insists. 'I conduct with my hands, not with my feet.’ www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/040527-NL-Franck.html

[@lucasgust7720]

@@ecphorizer that doesn't answer my question, he could keep seated the whole time.

[@xhr75]

@@lucasgust7720 I would say it's a playful way of showing his respect and affection for the orchestra. Mikko Franck and the "Philar" get along famously, from what I hear, and french musicians always love to play Ravel and often excel in it, so, by stepping down he shows that the orchestra is so at ease in this virtuoso piece that they almost don't need him, not in an authority position anyway.

[@xamiro2293]

Nul