Debussy, Ravel and more

A sumptuous quartet of concert hall classics.

Programme
Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Korngold Violin Concerto
R. Strauss Der Rosenkavalier – Suite
Ravel La valse

All the opulence and sensuality of late-Romanticism is captured in this concert of late-Romantic masterpieces. Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune is a remarkable example of literature transformed into music. Inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem of the same name, this blushing, erotically charged work was a pivotal point in modern music, dissolving the words and symbolist imagery into a potent sequence of sound ‘impressions’.

The lilt and courtly charms of the Viennese waltz course through both Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier suite and Ravel’s La valse. The former, a musical highlights reel of the German composer’s hit comic opera, is a regular fixture of ‘Viennese night’ concerts, filled with heart-stopping moments such as the famous final Trio. The latter, originally written as a tribute to ‘Waltz King’ Johann Strauss II, brings a nightmarish twist to the genre as manic climaxes and swirling melodies collapse in on themselves.

Award-winning Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman is the soloist in Korngold’s much-loved Violin Concerto, rich with hummable tunes borrowed from the composer’s Hollywood movie scores, wrapped up in a glittering, often cinematic orchestration.

Part of the Kirklees Concert Season 2026–27