SINGING RAVEL

Ravel's choral music is rare. It does, however, have treasures among which Les trois chansons for a cappella choir. His music seems to find an ideal extension with voice and choir. This program proposes to play large pages transcribed for the choir: from Ma mère L'Oye to Scheherazade via La Vallée des Cloches. Great composers and arrangers have already given their letters of nobility to this Ravelian art of transcription: Gérard Pesson, Thierry Machuel or Clytus Gottwald. For this program, Les Métaboles challenged Thibault Perrine to transcribe for the first time two emblematic works by Ravel: Bolero and La Pavane pour une infante défunte. There is no doubt that these new versions for choir will make it possible to discover these works in a new and unprecedented light!
 

Co production : la Cité de la Voix, la Cité musicale-Metz

Scores by Maurice Ravel - Éditions Durand
Some scores have been kindly loaned by CEN (resource center dedicated to choral art)

SINGING RAVEL

Maurice Ravel

Pavane pour une infante défunte 
Transcription Thibault Perrine

Ma Mère l'Oye 
Transcription Thierry Machuel
- Le Jardin féerique
- Pavane de la belle au bois dormant

Ronsard à son âme 
Transcription Gérard Pesson

Soupir 
Extrait des Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé
Transcription Clytus Gottwald

Toi, le cœur de la rose 
Extrait de L’Enfant et les sortilèges
Transcription Clytus Gottwald

Trois Chansons pour chœur a cappella
- Nicolette

- Trois beaux oiseaux du paradis

- Ronde



La vallée des cloches 
Transcription Clytus Gottwald

Shéhérazade 
Transcription Gérard Pesson
- La Flûte enchantée
- L’indifférent

Boléro 
Transcription Thibault Perrine

Les Métaboles (24 singers)
Léo Warynski, direction

Extraits...

Maurice Ravel - Boléro (Transcription Thibault Perrine)

Recording live

Maurice Ravel - Boléro (Transcription Thibault Perrine)

Recording live

Dans la presse

"From one piece to the next, the quality and passion of the performance take us far beyond a mere stylistic exercice."

Télérama - Sophie Bourdais
 - Singing Ravel

"From one piece to the next, the quality and passion of the performance take us far beyond a mere stylistic exercice."

Télérama - Sophie Bourdais - Singing Ravel

“The most spectacular piece was the Boléro commissioned from him (Thibault Perrine), who managed to draw out the intrinsic qualities of the human voices (and the bodies behind them!) rather than attempting to mimic the mechanics and timbres of an orchestra. (…) From one piece to the next, the quality and passion of the performance take us far beyond a mere stylistic exercise.” 

Les Métaboles and Ravel

Concert Classic - Alain Cochard
 - Singing Ravel

Les Métaboles and Ravel

Concert Classic - Alain Cochard - Singing Ravel

Les Métaboles are spoiling us this spring. After exploring last year the rarely performed Another Look at Harmony by Philip Glass — and releasing a superb recording of it on b.records — Léo Warynski and his singers return to the same label with an album entitled Singing Ravel. Nearly an hour of choral music drawn from the composer from Ciboure? The idea may seem surprising at first, given that his entire output in the genre amounts to the Trois Chansons for unaccompanied choir — barely seven minutes of music in total.

Hidden harmonies and colours

Inspired by the example of highly successful transcriptions such as La Vallée des cloches, no. 5 of the piano cycle Miroirs adapted by Clytus Gottwald to a poem by Paul Verlaine — a version which, as Warynski notes, “offers a new perspective on Ravel’s music by revealing hidden harmonies and colours” — the conductor decided to go further down this path, with the aim of including in his Ravel programme a transcription of the famous Bolero. As with La Vallée des cloches, Thierry Machuel’s adaptation of Le Jardin féerique from Ma Mère l’Oye (set to a text by Benoît Richter) and the Trois Chansons had already appeared on a previous recording released in 2020 (Jardin féerique / NoMadMusic), but one is hardly going to complain about hearing them again in a live recording made on 10 May 2025 at the Philharmonie de Paris — with all the energy that such conditions bring. The disc also offers, again in Machuel’s arrangements, the Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant (from Ma Mère l’Oye), Soupir (from the Trois Poèmes de Mallarmé) in Gottwald’s version, and – adapted by Gérard Pesson, a true goldsmith of sound – Ronsard à son âme and two excerpts from Shéhérazade (La Flûte enchantée, L’Indifférent), all delivered with astonishing refinement by Warynski and his singers.

A bold undertaking…

Yet it is Thibault Perrine’s work that draws particular attention, given the “status” in posterity of two of the pieces he tackled. Alongside “Adieu, pastourelles” (from L’Enfant et les sortilèges), he has taken on Ravel’s most famous piano work, Pavane pour une infante défunte, and his most universally known orchestral score: Bolero. It was a daring move — and an absolute triumph, enough to melt the hearts of even the most purist music lovers.

The two works frame the programme. It opens with a Pavane whose lyricism perfectly matches the text of “Belle qui tient ma vie”, itself a pavane written at the end of the sixteenth century by the Dijon-born composer Thoinot Arbeau (1520–1595). At the other end of the recording, the famous Bolero is no less compelling. No text is used in this transcription — only an astonishingly inventive play, fully attuned to the specific qualities of the voices that make up Les Métaboles, on phonemes, onomatopoeia, and body percussion. An adaptation that highlights both the individual resources and the collective cohesion of one of our most admirable and daring choral ensembles.

Trois chansons

Diapason - Benoît Fauchet
 - Singing Ravel

Trois chansons

Diapason - Benoît Fauchet - Singing Ravel

Everything Ravel wrote for unaccompanied choir fits into Trois chansons, which Léo Warynski’s vocal ensemble had already recorded in 2019 and which they revisit here with the fever of live performance, offering the audience a Nicolette sketched with a gourmand relish for the text, Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis whose flight is deftly traced with a subtle slow‑motion effect, and finally a virtuosic, intoxicating Ronde.

Dedicating an entire programme to the composer — as in this concert recorded at the Cité de la Musique on 10 March 2025 — therefore requires turning to transcription. […] For Boléro, the transcriber chose to forgo the addition of a text, which would no doubt have seemed superfluous, even decorative: for nearly fifteen minutes (no shortcuts!), the voice displays an endlessly varied instrumental aesthetic, at times surprisingly overtone‑rich, mischievous yet never ridiculous. An impressive feat that attests to the level of excellence the ensemble has achieved.

"Sometines stunning, sometimes a bit silly, this is all in all a worthwhile."

New York Times – Gabrielle Ferrari
 - Singing Ravel

"Sometines stunning, sometimes a bit silly, this is all in all a worthwhile."

New York Times – Gabrielle Ferrari - Singing Ravel

Despite a healthy output of vocal works, Maurice Ravel wrote only three pieces for unaccompanied choir. But the choral director Léo Warynski, in a recent album with Les Métaboles, poses the question: Why not turn the “singing” quality that suffuses this composer’s instrumental writing into actual song? Such an exercise requires both textual curation and a deft hand with transcriptions, but the results place even Ravel’s most familiar pieces in a new light.

Singing Ravel is part performance of and part imaginative response to the composer’s music, combining existing all-vocal transcriptions of orchestral and operatic selections with two new arrangements. At times, the poetic choices are clever and moving. The already lovely “Pavane pour une Infante Défunte” here takes an achingly romantic text from Thoinot Arbeau’s 16th-century manual on Renaissance dance, “Orchésographie,” a nod to the original’s dancing title and to Arbeau’s own late-Renaissance vocal pavane on the same text. A wordless transcription of “Boléro” features onomatopoeic vocal gestures, buzzy hums and whistles that at once bring the lush orchestration of the original into a tight timbral focus and enliven the album’s sonic palette. Sometimes stunning, sometimes a bit silly, this is all in all a worthwhile experiment.

"This album is not only marvelous and enchanting; it also castsa fresh inner light on the splendor and harmonic daring of the French genius."

Libération - Eric Dahan
 - Singing Ravel

"This album is not only marvelous and enchanting; it also castsa fresh inner light on the splendor and harmonic daring of the French genius."

Libération - Eric Dahan - Singing Ravel

A recording of a concert given in March 2025 at the Cité de la Musique in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, marking the composer’s 150th anniversary. Singing Ravel, by the choir Les Métaboles, founded in 2010 by Léo Warynski, feels perfectly timed now that we’ve switched to daylight saving time. From Thibault Perrine’s introductory transcription of the Pavane pour une infante défunte to the hilarious closing Boléro, and through the spellbinding Soupirs, La Vallée des cloches, and L’Indifférent—transcribed by Clytus Gottwald and Gérard Pesson—this album is not only marvelous and enchanting; it also casts a fresh inner light on the splendor and harmonic daring of the French genius.

Enchanting Songs

Le Figaro magazine - Bruno Guermonprez
 - Singing Ravel

Enchanting Songs

Le Figaro magazine - Bruno Guermonprez - Singing Ravel

A cappella choral music is in the spotlight these days.
[…]

On the same level—though Ravel never ventured into the religious or liturgical realm—the formidable Métaboles, conducted by Léo Warynski, captivate audiences with these choral transcriptions of some of the greatest works by the composer of Boléro: Singing Ravel. Recorded live at the Philharmonie de Paris (b.records/Outhere). The Ravelian grace—and precision!—of the orchestration is, in a way, sublimated by this shift to an “all‑voice” texture, rich in timbres and sonorities that are quite literally unheard of. The gentle enchantment of the Pavane for a Dead Princess, the harmonic ecstasy of Soupir, and the electrifying interweaving of The Magic Flute (excerpt from Shéhérazade) will stay with you for a long time.

A packed church for a high-level choral evening

Resmusica - Patrick Jézéquel
 - Singing Ravel

A packed church for a high-level choral evening

Resmusica - Patrick Jézéquel - Singing Ravel

Making Ravel heard a cappella: this is the very beautiful idea presented by Léo Warynski and the Métaboles as part of the Rencontres musicales de Vézelay, organized by the Cité de la Voix. A Ravel revisited by four transcriptionists: Clytus Gottwald, Thierry Machuel, Gérard Pesson and Thibault Perrine. When choral singing swells a universe full of grace and color ...

On the program, a dozen songs, some from opuses written directly for the voice, as well as Les Trois Chansons, Ravel’s only a cappella work; the others for instruments, even orchestra, like the Bolero, which will be the star of the evening. Gentle immersion with Pavane pour une infante defunte (1899-1910), transcribed for choir by Thibault Perrine, who will greet him at the end of the concert. He borrows the text from another pavane, very famous this one: Belle qui tient ma vie. The flexibility of the voices and the homogeneity of the whole are immediately appreciated, as well as the management of effects, such as this suspension on the verge of silence before the theme is reexposed. The same Perrine will end the evening with the sparkling Bolero (1928). This success, which has become global, to the great surprise of its composer, has this evening the same spontaneous support from the public, who not only have the original in their ears, but appreciate the great qualities of the arrangement for vocal ensemble. . And it is indeed a joy to see as much as to hear the slow crescendo of a repetitive melody supported by an intangible rhythm. The themes, sung by one or two male voices, circulate from desk to desk then swell, being taken up by an increasing number of choristers. Congratulations also to the men responsible for whistling between their teeth the ostinato, originally struck on a snare drum. A pounding on the platform is heard timidly before its general spread. At the end of the day, this bass drum effect doubles as the men beat their chests while the women hit their thighs. The picturesque and joyfulness of the work is conveyed with a certain humor by the whistles that accompany the two themes and the "wow, wow" of the tenors who comment on them. The acclaimed Bolero will even be given in part during the second encore.

The difficulty or the embarrassment, listening to an arranged music, is the memory of the reference in its original workforce, and we can regret that many transcriptions, however successful they may be, give the impression to stick to their model. This is certainly not the case with tLa Pavane de la Belle au Bois dormant (1908-1912), adapted by Thierry Machuel, which clearly plays the four desks, thus conveying the diaphanous elegance of the Ravelian universe. A quiet whistle further reinforces the impression of distance or false lightness emanating from such music as from a flower garden. Also noteworthy is the transcription of Soupir (1913) by Clytus Gottwald, whose quivering high-pitched superimposed voices irresistibly evoke Ligeti's Lux aeterna. This piece was commissioned by Gottwald, who premiered it in 1966, the year it was composed, with his ensemble, the Schola Cantorum in Stuttgart. Certain pieces stand out for their joyful and hopping side, such as Nicolette, the first LesTrois Chansons (1914-1915). Others by the flight of solo voices, such as La Flûte enchantée (1903), extracted from Scheherazade and arranged by Gérard Pesson (born in 1958), where the soprano Amandine Trenc (sublime!) Stands out in volutes on a carpet of low notes.

This 21st edition of the festival, which forges a secret link between two Apaches, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) and the conductor Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht (1880-1965), is a pleasant wink. In fact, from 1900 until the First World War, the Parisian circle of friends, self-baptized the Société des Apaches, met, in which all of Ravel's works were created. As for Inghelbrecht, he spent his summers very often, from 1923 until his death, in his house on rue Saint-Étienne, located some 150m from the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, as one plaque recalls. A church is packed today for a high-end choral evening.

A packed church for a high-level choral evening

Resmusica - Patrick Jézéquel
 - Singing Ravel

A packed church for a high-level choral evening

Resmusica - Patrick Jézéquel - Singing Ravel

Making Ravel heard a cappella: this is the very beautiful idea presented by Léo Warynski and the Métaboles as part of the Rencontres musicales de Vézelay, organized by the Cité de la Voix. A Ravel revisited by four transcriptionists: Clytus Gottwald, Thierry Machuel, Gérard Pesson and Thibault Perrine. When choral singing swells a universe full of grace and color ...

On the program, a dozen songs, some from opuses written directly for the voice, as well as Les Trois Chansons, Ravel’s only a cappella work; the others for instruments, even orchestra, like the Bolero, which will be the star of the evening. Gentle immersion with Pavane pour une infante defunte (1899-1910), transcribed for choir by Thibault Perrine, who will greet him at the end of the concert. He borrows the text from another pavane, very famous this one: Belle qui tient ma vie. The flexibility of the voices and the homogeneity of the whole are immediately appreciated, as well as the management of effects, such as this suspension on the verge of silence before the theme is reexposed. The same Perrine will end the evening with the sparkling Bolero (1928). This success, which has become global, to the great surprise of its composer, has this evening the same spontaneous support from the public, who not only have the original in their ears, but appreciate the great qualities of the arrangement for vocal ensemble. . And it is indeed a joy to see as much as to hear the slow crescendo of a repetitive melody supported by an intangible rhythm. The themes, sung by one or two male voices, circulate from desk to desk then swell, being taken up by an increasing number of choristers. Congratulations also to the men responsible for whistling between their teeth the ostinato, originally struck on a snare drum. A pounding on the platform is heard timidly before its general spread. At the end of the day, this bass drum effect doubles as the men beat their chests while the women hit their thighs. The picturesque and joyfulness of the work is conveyed with a certain humor by the whistles that accompany the two themes and the "wow, wow" of the tenors who comment on them. The acclaimed Bolero will even be given in part during the second encore.

The difficulty or the embarrassment, listening to an arranged music, is the memory of the reference in its original workforce, and we can regret that many transcriptions, however successful they may be, give the impression to stick to their model. This is certainly not the case with tLa Pavane de la Belle au Bois dormant (1908-1912), adapted by Thierry Machuel, which clearly plays the four desks, thus conveying the diaphanous elegance of the Ravelian universe. A quiet whistle further reinforces the impression of distance or false lightness emanating from such music as from a flower garden. Also noteworthy is the transcription of Soupir (1913) by Clytus Gottwald, whose quivering high-pitched superimposed voices irresistibly evoke Ligeti's Lux aeterna. This piece was commissioned by Gottwald, who premiered it in 1966, the year it was composed, with his ensemble, the Schola Cantorum in Stuttgart. Certain pieces stand out for their joyful and hopping side, such as Nicolette, the first LesTrois Chansons (1914-1915). Others by the flight of solo voices, such as La Flûte enchantée (1903), extracted from Scheherazade and arranged by Gérard Pesson (born in 1958), where the soprano Amandine Trenc (sublime!) Stands out in volutes on a carpet of low notes.

This 21st edition of the festival, which forges a secret link between two Apaches, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) and the conductor Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht (1880-1965), is a pleasant wink. In fact, from 1900 until the First World War, the Parisian circle of friends, self-baptized the Société des Apaches, met, in which all of Ravel's works were created. As for Inghelbrecht, he spent his summers very often, from 1923 until his death, in his house on rue Saint-Étienne, located some 150m from the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, as one plaque recalls. A church is packed today for a high-end choral evening.

The masterful ending wrings the bravi and ovation from an enthusiastic audience

Olyrix - Emmanuel Deroeux
 - Singing Ravel

The masterful ending wrings the bravi and ovation from an enthusiastic audience

Olyrix - Emmanuel Deroeux - Singing Ravel

It is with the world premiere of the transcription of the Pavane pour une infante defunte for choir for four mixed voices by Thibault Perrine, on the sublime poem Belle qui tient ma vie by Thoinot Arbeau, that tonight's concert begins, in the sumptuous Basilica of Vézelay. The direction of Léo Warynski gets rid of everything superfluous, suggesting by its flexible and round gestures the sonorous material of the choir, itself very round, mellow. In the generous acoustics of the basilica, the pronunciation of the texts and the precision of the attacks seem at first to suffer from this priority search for the beauty of the sound. Gradually, as the artists of the choir gain confidence, these slight flaws diminish. At several times, the listener is caught up in delicious harmonies colored with great care, such as the piano nuance offered on "Que l’amour qui m’époint décroisse d’un seul point ". The listener is transported by the obviously magical colors of Le Jardin Féérique, whose overall dynamics are thought out in a progressive manner until the final note, powerful but by no means overwhelming. The counter-d by soprano Anne-Claire Baconnais has the rare (even incredible for such pitches) quality of leading, sure and fine, towards the cadential (concluding) part. The ethereal pianissimo of "Toi, le coeur de la rose" from L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, hypnotizes. The colors that are offered are like pastel with watercolor effect, light and transparent, but in such an intense performance that one of the sopranos falls for it. The fear over (and the fall being in fact due to an indisposition), Amandine Trenc will return some time later, joining the ensemble while remaining seated to ensure her part, particularly important for "Le flûte enchantée", transcription of Scheherazade. Despite her great fatigue, the singer gives out a crystalline voice, light and agile like a flute. For the Trois chansons for a cappella choir, the music and texts of which are by Ravel's own hand, the soprano Lorraine Tisserand acts as a soloist on Trois beaux oiseaux de paradis on a beautiful choir mat and some echoes, making a voice heard. bright and very tender.

As a final, Les Métaboles offers a world premiere of the transcription of the Boléro for 16 mixed voices by Thibault Perrine. The choice leaves first of all questionable as to the possibility of transcribing for voice only a work of which all the flavor is the instrumentation. Admittedly, the rhythmic ostinato (repeated figure) at first appears a little irregular, but it nevertheless gains in confidence as the work progresses. The end of the second melodic phrase is however still too low in the registers to sound well and the endurance necessary for this long work sometimes gives rise to fear of a noticeable drop in accuracy. However, Les Métaboles values ​​the work of transcription, still succeeding in reconstituting certain instrument timbres, such as the horn "wah wah" by the tenors, also completed by body percussion. The rich harmonies, with octaves and fifths, work very well thanks to the female voices, whose parts are almost individual. The masterful ending, with a collective kick, snatches the bravi and ovation from an enthusiastic audience. Although they enjoyed Le Jardin Féérique as an encore, which was the subject of a clip during the first confinement, the public asked for the Bolero again. Léo Warynski gives in and gives the last fifth of the work, with a little rushed tempo and an ostinato probably tired, but not lacking in shared enthusiasm!

Photo : François Zuidberg

The masterful ending wrings the bravi and ovation from an enthusiastic audience

Olyrix - Emmanuel Deroeux
 - Singing Ravel

The masterful ending wrings the bravi and ovation from an enthusiastic audience

Olyrix - Emmanuel Deroeux - Singing Ravel

It is with the world premiere of the transcription of the Pavane pour une infante defunte for choir for four mixed voices by Thibault Perrine, on the sublime poem Belle qui tient ma vie by Thoinot Arbeau, that tonight's concert begins, in the sumptuous Basilica of Vézelay. The direction of Léo Warynski gets rid of everything superfluous, suggesting by its flexible and round gestures the sonorous material of the choir, itself very round, mellow. In the generous acoustics of the basilica, the pronunciation of the texts and the precision of the attacks seem at first to suffer from this priority search for the beauty of the sound. Gradually, as the artists of the choir gain confidence, these slight flaws diminish. At several times, the listener is caught up in delicious harmonies colored with great care, such as the piano nuance offered on "Que l’amour qui m’époint décroisse d’un seul point ". The listener is transported by the obviously magical colors of Le Jardin Féérique, whose overall dynamics are thought out in a progressive manner until the final note, powerful but by no means overwhelming. The counter-d by soprano Anne-Claire Baconnais has the rare (even incredible for such pitches) quality of leading, sure and fine, towards the cadential (concluding) part. The ethereal pianissimo of "Toi, le coeur de la rose" from L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, hypnotizes. The colors that are offered are like pastel with watercolor effect, light and transparent, but in such an intense performance that one of the sopranos falls for it. The fear over (and the fall being in fact due to an indisposition), Amandine Trenc will return some time later, joining the ensemble while remaining seated to ensure her part, particularly important for "Le flûte enchantée", transcription of Scheherazade. Despite her great fatigue, the singer gives out a crystalline voice, light and agile like a flute. For the Trois chansons for a cappella choir, the music and texts of which are by Ravel's own hand, the soprano Lorraine Tisserand acts as a soloist on Trois beaux oiseaux de paradis on a beautiful choir mat and some echoes, making a voice heard. bright and very tender.

As a final, Les Métaboles offers a world premiere of the transcription of the Boléro for 16 mixed voices by Thibault Perrine. The choice leaves first of all questionable as to the possibility of transcribing for voice only a work of which all the flavor is the instrumentation. Admittedly, the rhythmic ostinato (repeated figure) at first appears a little irregular, but it nevertheless gains in confidence as the work progresses. The end of the second melodic phrase is however still too low in the registers to sound well and the endurance necessary for this long work sometimes gives rise to fear of a noticeable drop in accuracy. However, Les Métaboles values ​​the work of transcription, still succeeding in reconstituting certain instrument timbres, such as the horn "wah wah" by the tenors, also completed by body percussion. The rich harmonies, with octaves and fifths, work very well thanks to the female voices, whose parts are almost individual. The masterful ending, with a collective kick, snatches the bravi and ovation from an enthusiastic audience. Although they enjoyed Le Jardin Féérique as an encore, which was the subject of a clip during the first confinement, the public asked for the Bolero again. Léo Warynski gives in and gives the last fifth of the work, with a little rushed tempo and an ostinato probably tired, but not lacking in shared enthusiasm!

Photo : François Zuidberg

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SINGING RAVEL

New release of Les Métaboles
Live recording in March 2025 at Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris.
5 diapasons - Clef du mois de mai Resmusica

En savoir plus...
2025

October

Friday, october 10 2025 - 08:30 pmSinging RavelCollégiale Notre-Dame de Poissy

Everything sings in Ravel: the strings of Daphnis et Chloé, the piano of Jeux d’eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Yet his work for choral a cappella is reduced to the twirling but very short Three Songs. Never mind! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here are Ma Mère l'Oye, Miroirs, Shéhérazade offered to the virtuosity and mischievousness of the singers of Métaboles – and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and the Pavane pour une infante défunte by Thibault Perrine.

June

Monday, June 30 2025 - 08:00 pmBoléroLes rencontres musicales d'Évian

Les Métaboles are participating for the first time in the Évian Musical Meetings for a program around the composer Maurice Ravel
Sunday, June 29 2025 - 04:00 pmSinging RavelL'Hexagone à Autun - Chants Libres, Cité de la Voix

Chants libres is the festival proposed by the Bettencourt - Schueller Foundation

April

Sunday, April 20 2025 - 05:00 pmSinging RavelFestival de Pâques de Colmar

Everything sings in Ravel: the strings of Daphnis et Chloé, the piano of Jeux d’eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Yet his work for choral a cappella is reduced to the twirling but very short Three Songs. Never mind! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here are Ma Mère l'Oye, Miroirs, Shéhérazade offered to the virtuosity and mischievousness of the singers of Métaboles – and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and the Pavane pour une infante défunte by Thibault Perrine.

Reservation

March

Monday, March 10 2025 - 08:00 pmSinging RavelLa Philharmonie de Paris

Ravel's music includes only a few pieces written for choir, but it seems to call for the voice, and many composers have dabbled in the art of vocal transcription of his works. The opportunity to rediscover them in a new light.

To complete a repertoire that we owe to Gérard Pesson, Thierry Machuel or Clytus Gottwald, familiar with vocal arrangements, Les Métaboles challenged Thibault Perrine to give a vocal version of two of the composer's most famous works: La Pavane pour une infante défunte and the Boléro. The first borrows its text from the 16th century poem Belle qui tiens ma vie set to music by Arbeau, while the second chooses wordless singing and body percussion in a very convincing reinvention. The public is invited to participate in the concert through three rehearsals beforehand, under the precise direction of Léo Warynski.

Preceded by one or more rehearsals, participatory concerts invite spectators to take an active part in the show from the venue. They accompany the artists who are on stage by singing or playing extracts of works prepared in advance.

Rehearsals for the participatory public will take place on the following dates:
Sunday March 2 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday March 8 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday March 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Under the direction of Léo Warynski, the audience prepares to sing “Belle qui tiens ma vie” by Arbeau and “Adieu, pastourelles!” » by Ravel, and to join in rhythm with the Boléro.

Reservation

February

Friday, February 7 2025 - 19h30Singing RavelLes sommets musicaux de Gstaad - Suisse

Everything sings in Ravel: the strings of Daphnis et Chloé, the piano of Jeux d’eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Yet his work for choral a cappella is reduced to the twirling but very short Three Songs. Never mind! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here are Ma Mère l'Oye, Miroirs, Shéhérazade offered to the virtuosity and mischievousness of the singers of Métaboles – and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and the Pavane pour une infante défunte by Thibault Perrine.

Reservation
2023

December

Tuesday, December 12 2023 - 8:00 pmSinging RavelThéâtre de Privas

Everything sings at Ravel's: the strings of Daphnis and Chloé, the piano from Jeux d'eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters from L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. However, his work for a cappella choir is reduced to the twirling but very short Trois chansons. Never mind ! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here is Ma mère d'Oye, Miroirs, Scheherazade offered to the virtuosity and playfulness of the singers of the Métaboles - and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and Pavane pour une infante défunte

The Singing Ravel tour is supported by Adami and Private Copying.

August

Monday, August 7 2023 - 09:00 pmSinging RavelRencontres musique et patrimoine du Mont Blanc

Everything sings with Ravel: the strings of Daphnis and Chloé, the piano of Jeux d'eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters from L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. However, his work for a cappella choir is reduced to twirling but very short Trois chansons. Never mind ! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here is Ma Mère l'Oye, Miroirs, Scheherazade offered to the virtuosity and playfulness of the singers of the Métaboles - and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and the Pavane pour une infante defunte by Thibault Perrine.

The Singing Ravel tour is supported by Adami and Private Copying.

Reservation

July

Thursday, July 27 2023 - 8:00 pmSinging RavelLes Promenades musicales du Pays d'Auge - Abbatiale de Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives

Everything sings at Ravel's: the strings of Daphnis and Chloé, the piano from Jeux d'eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters from L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. However, his work for a cappella choir is reduced to the twirling but very short Trois chansons. Never mind ! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here is Ma mère d'Oye, Miroirs, Scheherazade offered to the virtuosity and playfulness of the singers of the Métaboles - and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and Pavane pour une infante défunte

The Singing Ravel tour is supported by Adami and Private Copying.

Reservation
Saturday, July 8 2023 - 09:00 pmSinging RavelFestival Les Traversées - Abbaye de Noirlac

Everything sings with Ravel: the strings of Daphnis and Chloé, the piano of Jeux d'eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters from L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. However, his work for a cappella choir is reduced to twirling but very short Trois chansons. Never mind ! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here is Ma Mère l'Oye, Miroirs, Scheherazade offered to the virtuosity and playfulness of the singers of the Métaboles - and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and the Pavane pour une infante defunte by Thibault Perrine.
2022

August

Sunday, August 21 2022 - 8 pmSinging RavelFestival Ravel - Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Everything sings with Ravel: the strings of Daphnis and Chloé, the piano of the Water Games or the whirlwind of fantastic characters from L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. However, his work for a cappella choir is reduced to twirling but very short Three songs. Never mind ! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here is Ma Mère l'Oye, Miroirs, Scheherazade offered to the virtuosity and playfulness of the singers of the Métaboles - and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and the Pavane pour une infante defunte by Thibault Perrine.

May

Wenesday, May 18, 2022 - 8:30 pmSinging RavelFloréal d'Épinal

Everything sings with Ravel: the strings of Daphnis and Chloé, the piano of the Water Games or the whirlwind of fantastic characters from L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. However, his work for a cappella choir is reduced to twirling but very short Three songs. Never mind ! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here is Ma Mère l'Oye, Miroirs, Scheherazade offered to the virtuosity and playfulness of the singers of the Métaboles - and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and the Pavane pour une infante defunte by Thibault Perrine.

January

Sunday, January 30 2022 - 4 pmSinging RavelCité musicale - Metz

Everything sings at Ravel's: the strings of Daphnis and Chloé, the piano from Jeux d'eau or the whirlwind of fantastic characters from L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. However, his work for a cappella choir is reduced to the twirling but very short Three Songs. Never mind ! Didn't Ravel himself transcribe, here for piano, there for orchestra, a good part of his catalog? Here is Ma mère d'Oye, Miroirs, Scheherazade offered to the virtuosity and playfulness of the singers of the Métaboles - and in creation, the transcriptions of the Bolero and Pavane pour une infante défunte

Reservation here
2021

August

Friday, March 20 août 2021 - 9 pmSinging RavelFestival Les Rencontres musicales de Vezelay

De grandes pages de la musique vocale de Maurice Ravel ainsi que des transcriptions dont celles, spécifiquement faites par Thibault Perrine pour les Métaboles, Le Boléro et La Pavane pour une Infante défunte.

Reservation here