Manuel López-Gómez conducts Ravel - Academy Symphony Orchestra

The Academy Symphony Orchestra performs La Valse by Ravel, conducted by Manuel López-Gómez.

López-Gómez is a graduate of Venezuela’s internationally renowned El Sistema music programme and is in demand as a conductor in Europe and the Americas. He has been working with the Academy since 2015.

First performed in 1920, La valse is a tone poem tribute to the waltz form. The melancholy style is said by some to be tragic allusion to post-war Europe. Also on the programme was music by Debussy and Falla as part of a concert of Impressionist music in the Duke’s Hall.