tzigane

The ballet, originally known as “Tzigane” after its score by Maurice Ravel, was revived this season with a staging by Suzanne Farrell and a new name, “Errante,” or wandering.

Tzigane, a word that refers to Romani people, is now considered derogatory.

Other soloists included the saxophonist Steven Banks, who radiated mellow glamour in the long lines of a Glazunov concerto; the violinist Augustin Hadelich, who dug into the raw strangeness of Ravel’s “Tzigane” and drew out the warm midrange of his Guarneri violin in a relative rarity by Boulogne; and the violinist Joshua Bell, who played pieces by Florence Price and Henri Vieuxtemps in a concert I missed led by Jonathon Heyward, who will become the first Black music director of the Baltimore Symphony in 2023.

Slocumb, himself a classical musician and music teacher, writes eloquently of the racism Ray has faced in a world where not many look like him, and equally beautifully of the music Ray loves: Vivaldi’s “Winter,” Ravel’s “Tzigane,” Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

“Tzigane” by the founding flutist of the ensemble, Valerie Coleman, wrapped up an evening of committed, communicative music-making.