"Watch out, Les Apaches!" This is how a newsagent hailed Maurice Ravel and his friends in the streets of Paris. Unwittingly, he christened this group of artists from diverse backgrounds for eternity. It is also the title chosen for the inaugural concert of the Ensemble Les Apaches, which aims to shake up the concert experience. This project brings together works by Maurice Ravel, Maurice Delage, and Igor Stravinsky, juxtaposed with a new piece commissioned from Fabien Touchard and poems from both past and present.

A poetic journey between East and West
From Japan to India, from Beirut to Damascus, from Russia to Tajikistan, from the Balkans to Spain, the performance invites us on a journey between East and West. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Orient fascinated artists. Today, it challenges artists and prompts reflection on the contemporary world, its violence, its crises, its conflicts, and its horizons.

A magnificent and scandalous concert
This concert pays tribute to three major composers of the early 20th century, representative of the artistic group known as the Apache Society. The three works were created for the "miraculous and scandalous concert" of the Independent Musical Society on January 14, 1914. Interspersed between these works are piano pieces from Maurice Ravel's Miroirs, each movement dedicated to an Apache friend, as well as readings of poems by Léon-Paul Fargue, himself an Apache.

A poetic and musical journey

The narrator's spoken voice and the soprano's singing voice converse with the instruments to evoke a curiosity about the world, languages, and styles. In this way, travel, history, and personal experience intertwine.