Program

BARTÓK
Violin Concerto No. 2  / 36 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

DEBUSSY
Suite from Pelléas and Mélisande / 22 min

RAVEL
La Valse / 13 min

At a Glance

Presented for the first time at Orchestra Hall, Debussy’s early 20th-century operatic masterwork Pelléas and Mélisande is rendered in this sensuous concert suite. Beautiful French repertoire like Debussy’s is a specialty of Fabien Gabel, the charismatic leader of the Quebec Symphony. In his Orchestra Hall debut, Gabel also conducts Bartok’s Second Violin Concerto, featuring Isabelle Faust, as well as Ravel’s whirling, swirling La Valse.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Fabien Gabel, conductor
• Isabelle Faust, violin

Did You Know?

• Ravel’s La Valse is billed as a choreographic poem, and though most often experienced as a concert piece, it was originally drawn up as a ballet.
• A happy accident? German violinist Isabelle Faust’s first violin lesson was at five years old when she accompanied her father to his lessons after he decided he wanted to learn to play. After that, she was hooked.
• Debussy’s opera Pelléas and Mélisande tells the story of a heated love triangle drenched in mystery, passion and tragedy.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

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