Sir Antonio Pappano & Alison Balsom by Marsalis, Ravel, Alates (2024/2024), Dirigent Antonio Pappano, Bristol Beacon, Bristol, United Kingdom

The gauzy, sensuous soundscape of Ravel’s pastoral ballet meets Wynton Marsalis’ jazz-inflected Trumpet Concerto. In turn-of-the-century Paris, Ravel composed a ballet about ancient Greece for a Russian dance company. The result was music of fluid, diaphanous beauty, a languid drama of danger and desire. Confronting its strange, modern rhythms, the dancers are said to have chanted the name of Ballet Russe’s impresario ‘Ser-gei Dia-ghi-lev’ to stay on beat. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and musician Wynton Marsalis mingles jazz, blues, soul and the classical tradition across his thrilling oeuvre. This is the first time Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor Designate, has conducted music by Marsalis, and he and the LSO pay tribute to the composer in this deeply felt performance. Alison Balsom, for whom the concerto was written, is attuned to every nuance of the piece.