PRESS PLAY: love & romance
From tender classics to dramatic passion—these timeless romantic films perfectly match the mood of Daphnis et Chloé.
Daphnis et Chloé (26.09.2025)
HOW DESIRE DRIVES US
The concert Daphnis et Chloé weaves together three stories about desire, with music by Van Parys, Boulanger, and Ravel. Yet each story is different: told from other perspectives, shaped by different forms of desire, and carried by different voices. Brussels Philharmonic invited slam poet and Brussels city poet Lisette Ma Neza to rediscover these stories through her own lens. How does she weave the works together? How does she write a new layer onto the music? And which words does she add to reveal hidden worlds?
With music, word, and image, this concert invites us to reflect on what sparks desire and sets it in motion. The emotional force of the music by Annelies Van Parys, Nadia Boulanger, and Maurice Ravel is given an added dimension through the words of Lisette Ma Neza. For each work she writes a prologue, entering into a live dialogue with Pitcho (Brussels rapper, producer, and actor). During the music, her words and phrases come alive through the visual translation of motion designer Ychaï Gassenbauer.
Step into the story of Daphnis et Chloé: where music, spoken word, and visual poetry merge, leaving space for the audience to imagine their own perspectives and desires.
'Desire is interwoven with everything we do: it is an endless driving force, a constant search for what – or who – can make us whole.'
- Gerd Van Looy
PROGRAMME
Annelies Van Parys EUtopia (2024)
Nadia Boulanger Fantaisie variée pour piano et orchestre (1912)
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Maurice Ravel Daphnis et Chloé (1912)
visual concept by Lisette Ma Neza (poetry & performance) & Gerd Van Looy (artistic coordination)
in collaboration with Pitcho (performance) & Ychaï Gassenbauer (motion design)
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YOUR CONCERT NIGHT
∙ 18:00 doors open
∙ 18:30 lecture: Ravel Deconstructed by Florestan Bataillie (EN) (€9>€5)
∙ 19:30 introduction
∙ 20:15 concert (with intermission)
∙ 22:15 end
Daphnis et Chloé · 26.09.2025 · Flagey
When the visionary choreographer Sergei Diaghilev asked him in 1909 to create a new work for Les Ballets Russes, the young Maurice Ravel chose to present an intense Greek love story with Daphnis et Chloé. Ravel’s approach—emphasizing color and atmosphere—initially met with misunderstanding and resistance. Yet even Stravinsky declared, “It is not only Ravel’s finest work but also one of the most beautiful masterpieces of French music.”
discover morebeyond the score
With Beyond The Score, Brussels Philharmonic looks beyond the written notes, exploring what symphonic music awakens in other voices of our society. Music touches us all—and always tells a story. But how does that story change through the eyes of a poet? Or in the work of a Brussels-based artist? How do they layer new meaning onto the music of Ravel, Scriabin, or Stravinsky—and, in doing so, transform the way we listen?
Beyond The Score is experiment, encounter, and cross-pollination with the wider arts world. More voices. More impulses. And above all: music. More than music.
Ravel Deconstructed · Florestan Bataillie · 26.09.2025
During this musical lecture, the passionate pianist and storyteller Florestan Bataillie guides you through the enchanting world of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé. With fervor, he unravels the masterpiece and reveals how Ravel, inspired by ancient Greek love tales, created a unique musical universe where every note comes alive. Whether you’re already an aficionado or simply curious, everyone is welcome, and no prior knowledge is required!
