Baron Igor was just playing a flash mob version of Bolero...one of MiLady Wife's favorite pieces of music...and one i've hated most of my life...not because of the music itself...but because it's supposed to be THE perfect "seduction" music...but that damned military rhythm has always (to me) sounded more like "attack and conquer"...to put it politely...
Well, today i was listening...and suddenly started seeing a mental "film" (in glorious grainy B&W, of course) of the WWII liberation of some European...or perhaps North African...city...as the liberating troops march in parade and the townfolk go wild with flags and flowers and cheers and kisses...
totally changed my relationship to the music...
I too like the piece, though I always wondered about the seduction bit. I understand the continuous crescendo of the piece would relate, but for me, it just didn't resonate.
Sounds like MiLady Wife was contacting you with a picture of the way to love the music the way She did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNCSij0hUp8 Perfection!
Often it can be all about mentally or emotionally reframing.
I'm with krysta on this re: Torvill and Dean. Their interpretation of this piece was absolute perfection.
I've always liked it, but even more so after Britain's Torvill and Dean skated to it at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
My understanding is Ravel wrote it as an exercise,to demonstrate that adding more instruments,a few at a time, would lead to louder and louder volumes(amplitudes). Maybe Ravel was angry at a snare drummer.:-)