A Night in Ancient Greece: Ravel's Daphnis and Chloé

Bask in the radiance of Daphnis and Chloé, Ravel’s depiction of the ancient Greek pastoral novel about the romance between a young shepherd and shepherdess, set musically with shimmering, enchanted soundscapes. Central to this orchestral gem is the choir, singing without words to add dreamy color, as well as the pan flute (a nod to its namesake god, Pan), featured prominently and representing love and desire. Ubiquitous for its lilting waltz motifs (and ideal scoring for Saturday morning cartoons), Strauss’ Overture to Die Fledermaus is pure operatic nostalgia. A piece that may be new to you, the piano concerto NUR (Arabic for “fire”), was composed by this evening’s guest conductor, Matthias Pintscher.