Waltz by Death

A A A Comments By Amanda McCorquodale Thursday, Mar 31 2011

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Trying to evade death? Take a note from Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Masque of the Red Death” and throw a masquerade ball. The grim reaper won’t be able to identify you among all the masked couples waltzing by, right? Wrong. He’ll just start killing everyone. Poe’s gothic scene inspired French composer Maurice Ravel to pen La Valse, a whirling, bombastic score that’s equally macabre and sentimental. It is thought to reflect the post-World War I European Zeitgeist about the inevitability of death. The heady orchestral work is part of the New World Symphony’s Parisian Glimmers program this weekend at the New World Center. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, conductor Stéphane Denève, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and NWS fellows will present Ravel as well as other great composers from the City of Lights, such as Albert Roussel and the more contemporary Guillaume Connesson. You can catch the free WallCast of the performance on the 7,000-foot projection wall Saturday at 8 p.m.
Sat., April 9, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., April 10, 2 p.m., 2011

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