The Essence of Ravel will be heard at the Alcobaça Music Festival

This summer, Cistermúsica celebrates the work of Maurice Ravel with several concerts and multiple versions, in a programme that is unique in Portugal.

The 33rd edition of the Alcobaça Music Festival, which runs from 27 June to 2 August 2025, celebrates with particular intensity the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), an essential figure in European musical modernity. Based on the theme Variations, Impressions and Illusions, Cistermúsica offers a kaleidoscopic and sensory programme, with a dozen shows centred on the composer's sound universe.

On 5 July, the Suite Ma Mère l’Oye, originally written for two pianos and later orchestrated, will be performed by the Algarve Orchestra. The work reveals Ravel's fascination and inspiration by oriental exoticism, 17th-century French tales and archaic court dances, in a modern evocation of the past.

Next up is the Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra, on 12 July, with a programme entirely dedicated to the composer. Three of Ravel's most important works will be performed at this concert: the exuberant and captivating Suite No. 2 from the ballet Daphnis et Chloé, the luminous Piano Concerto in G major, influenced by Basque themes and jazz — with the award-winning young pianist Mariamna Sherling as soloist — and the dramatic La Valse, a true ‘choreographic poem’ originally conceived as a tribute to the Viennese waltz.

This celebration would not be complete without the unmissable and iconic Bolero, which will be performed by the Alcobaça Symphonic Band at the closing concert of the main programme on 1 August, where the beautiful Pavane pour une infante défunte and Ravel's magnificent orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition will also be heard.

Both Bolero and Pavane pour une infante défunte will be heard in other registers besides the symphonic, reflecting the Variations that inspire this year's festival. The former will be performed in a version for brass ensemble by GMS — Quinteto de Metais, on 13 July, in Fórnea, as part of the Concert Cycle in Natural Settings, in partnership with the Municipality of Porto de Mós. The delicate and nostalgic Pavane will be performed on 30 July by Ensemble Sunrise, in a transcription for string ensemble.

This same logic will be present in two concerts where the String Quartet in F major M.35 — the only string quartet composed by Ravel — will be featured. In the first, we will hear the original composition for string quartet — Quarteto Tágide, on 12 July — while in the second, the same work will be presented in an arrangement for saxophone quartet by the Maat Saxophone Quartet on 27 July.

Still in the realm of chamber music, on 24 July, the Quartzo Ensemble will present a programme dedicated to French music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, featuring Le Tombeau de Couperin, a suite inspired by French Baroque and composed in memory of Ravel's friends who fell in the First World War.

And because Ravel's name is inextricably linked to dance, the ballet Maurice Accompagné, by the Paulo Ribeiro company, will take to the stage at the Cine-Teatro de Alcobaça on 10 July, combining the works of Luís de Freitas Branco and Maurice Ravel. We will hear excerpts from Miroirs, Piano Concerto in G major, Sonatas for Violin and Piano and for Violin and Cello, among others.

As part of Cistermúsica Redes, we would also like to highlight the programme Histórias de Amor — Uma viagem musical e poética do Renascimento aos nossos dias (Love Stories — A musical and poetic journey from the Renaissance to the present day) by the vocal group Voces Cælestes, which includes Ravel's song Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis, to be heard on 26 July at Leiria Castle, in partnership with the Municipality of Leiria.

With the Ravel Essencial programme, we will hear some of his most emblematic works in various formations and interpretative approaches — from the intimacy of chamber music to orchestral exuberance, including dance — in a true celebration of the French composer, 150 years after his birth.

The locations and times of all events are available at www.cistermusica.com and tickets are on sale at the Blueticket online ticket office, as well as at the Alcobaça Music Academy.

Organised by ABA – Banda de Alcobaça Associação de Artes, the festival is supported by the La Caixa Foundation, in collaboration with BPI, and the Portuguese Republic – Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts. It is held in partnership with the Municipality of Alcobaça and Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, EPE /Mosteiro de Alcobaça, with Volkswagen as the official sponsor.