Tableaux Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen

• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62:
• 1 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: I. Prélude 03:11
• 2 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: II. Danse du rouet et scène 03:36
• 3 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: III. Pavane de la belle au bois dormant 02:29
• 4 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: IV. Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête 04:46
• 5 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: V. Petit poucet 04:19
• 6 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: VI. Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes 04:48
• 7 Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, M. 62: VII. Apothéose. Le jardin féerique 03:48
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Carnaval, Op. 9:
• 8 Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9: No. 1, Préambule (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel) 02:49
• 9 Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9: No. 16, Valse allemande (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel) 01:03
• 10 Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9: No. 17, Paganini (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel) 00:46
• 11 Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9: No. 16, Valse allemande (Reprise) [Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel] 00:44
• 12 Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9: No. 21, Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel) 04:03
• Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881): Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel):
• 13 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): Promenade I 01:54
• 14 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): I. Gnomus 02:29
• 15 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): Promenade II 01:02
• 16 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): II. Il vecchio castello 04:36
• 17 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): Promenade III 00:34
• 18 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): III. Tuileries 01:10
• 19 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): IV. Bydło 02:34
• 20 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): Promenade IV 00:43
• 21 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): V. Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques 01:11
• 22 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): VI. "Samuel" Goldenberg und "Schmuÿle" 02:24
• 23 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): VII. Limoges, le marché 01:32
• 24 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): VIII. Catacombae 02:07
• 25 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): Con mortuis in lingua mortua 01:57
• 26 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition [Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel]: IX. La cabane sur des pattes de poule (Baba-Yagá) 03:29
• 27 Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une exposition (Arr. for Orchestra by Maurice Ravel): X. La grande porte de Kiev 06:01
• Total Runtime 01:10:05

Info for Tableaux

This album centres on Ravel: Ravel the composer with Ma Mère l’Oye – originally a suite for piano four hands composed in 1910, orchestrated the following year to become a ballet… and Ravel the arranger with Mussorgsky’s famous Pictures at an Exhibition, as well as his orchestration of Schumann’s Carnival, an embryonic project begun in 1914 for the great Nijinsky, who would ultimately never dance it. Only four excerpts were transcribed, and they were not published until 1975, on the centenary of Ravel’s birth. Joseph Swensen, conducting the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, brings them back to life and infuses this colourful programme with his passion and infectious enthusiasm.

Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Joseph Swensen, conductor

Joseph Swensen
took up the post of Musical Director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine at the start of the 2024-25 season – the fruit of a rare musical relationship that has ripened over the past ten years. Conductor and composer Joseph Swensen works right across Europe and beyond. Hailed by reviewers particularly for his performances of the great Romantic repertoire, such as Mahler, Bruckner and Sibelius, he is also an adventurous explorer, regularly programming 21st-century composers alongside the classics. Joseph Swensen is also Chief Guest Conductor of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra Warsaw, Conductor Emeritus of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and (until December 2025) was Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Granada Orchestra in Spain; he was also Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Orchestre de chambre de Paris (2009-2012) and Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (2000-2003); while his operatic activity has included a term as Musical Director of Malmö Opera in Sweden. A multi-facetted musician, Joseph Swensen is also a composer and orchestrator, whose orchestrations include Prokofiev’s Five Songs Without Words (1920) published by Boosey and Hawkes, and The Ring Odyssey, taking the listener on a concert journey across the four operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in a single evening, a project that culminated in a recording with the ONBA. His Saga Trilogy, a set of three concertos for cello, viola (or clarinet) and contrabass composed during lockdown, explores the human condition and its relation to space and time. His other compositions include Requiem for Shizue (1995), for shakuhachi solo and orchestra dedicated to his aunt, a victim of the attack on Hiroshima, as well as Langeland Reveries (2017) and Mahler in Manhattan (2018). Highly sought after as a teacher, Joseph Swensen has been invited to teach orchestral conducting, the violin and chamber music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Jacobs Music School at Indiana University. An American of Norwegian and Japanese descent, Joseph Swensen was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and grew up in Harlem, New York.

Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Successor to the Orchestre de la Société Sainte-Cécile (founded in 1850), the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine (ONBA) comprises around one hundred musicians and ranks among France’s most prestigious orchestras. Joseph Swensen has served as its Music Director since September 2024, following in the footsteps of Paul Daniel, Kwamé Ryan, Christian Lauba, Hans Graf, John Neschling, and Alain Lombard. As an integral part of the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the ONBA contributes to opera and ballet productions while also presenting an extensive symphonic season at the Bordeaux Auditorium, complemented by chamber music projects at various venues. It also conducts a range of educational and community outreach activities aimed at young audiences and families—notably *ÉchoBois*, an initiative supporting the professional integration of young musicians from the region. Fulfilling its regional and national mission, the ONBA performs regularly outside its home venue, touring the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and appearing at numerous concert halls and festivals (such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra-Comique, the Ravel Festival in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and La Folle Journée in Nantes). Its recent recordings have garnered critical acclaim: Beethoven’s *Ode to Joy*, *Saga Trilogy*, and *Wagner Ring Odyssey* (conducted by Joseph Swensen); *Pelléas et Mélisande* (conducted by Pierre Dumoussaud); albums featuring baritone Florian Sempey and tenor Pene Pati; *Robert le Diable* (conducted by Marc Minkowski); *Mythologies* (music by Thomas Bangalter); and a recording with Israeli conductor Bar Avni. Beyond the full orchestra, the ONBA includes smaller ensembles that showcase the orchestra in different ways: the Prométhée Quartet, the Roussel Ensemble, the Bordeaux Brass Sextet, the ONBA Dixieland Jazz Band, and the ONBA Wind Ensemble. The Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine is funded by the City of Bordeaux, the Ministry of Culture, and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region.

Booklet for Tableaux