Richard Bratby

If Ravel’s Boléro makes you yawn, you’re not really listening

John Wilson and Simon Rattle understand that there should never be any such thing as a routine concert

John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London were determined to make us listen. Image: Chris Christodoulou 
issue 10 December 2022
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  • Sinfonia of London/Wilson/Coote; London Symphony Orchestra/ Rattle/Uchida

    Barbican Hall

Only boring people are bored by Ravel’s Boléro. True, the composer – the slyest of wits – left his share of booby traps for the uncomprehending; take his comment, in a letter to Paul Dukas, that ‘I have written only one masterpiece, Boléro. Unfortunately there is no music in it.’

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