Arbie Orenstein

With his New York sense of humor, Arbie Orenstein likes to tell the story of how he was born a few months before Ravel’s illness took him away, but unfortunately they never got to meet…

A legendary musicologist on Ravel, the greatest specialist on the composer’s work, he published his first work in 1975, which remains an absolute reference.

It was under his direction, also in the centenary year, that he revived forgotten scores such as Sites auriculaires and Shéhérazade.

During a study trip to France for his dissertation, he met and collected testimony from Ravel’s contemporaries, including Roland-Manuel, Madeleine Grey, and Edouard Ravel.

To listen to Arbie Orenstein is to meet a musicologist who has devoted more than sixty years of his life to understanding Ravel’s work.