Boléro is the piece that made Ravel’s name internationally known. A wonderfully simple piece, essentially just a giant crescendo reaching its famous climax, it is a beautiful example of Ravel’s genius for orchestration. Similar genius is shown in the other second-half work, Debussy’s La Mer, demonstrated in sections such as in the first movement when the sixteen cellos are divided into four groups of four. In the first half, Stravinsky’s neo-classical Firebird is paired with Delius’s rarely performed Cello Concerto, which observes Delius’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations in 2012.










