Well, if you like the orchestra version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition that is in large part due to Ravel's superb orchestration. I am not a huge Ravel fan, and consider him quite a minor composer, but I do like a few of his pieces.
If you find him too modern, I recommend a suite called Le Tombeau de Couperin, which is probably my favorite Ravel piece. Also, Pavane pour une infante defunte is pretty classical sounding.
More modern, but still nice are Alborada del gracioso amd Rhapsodie Espagnole. I never cared for Bolero. One of the boringest things ever written as music. Ravel intended it to be ballet music. However, it is often performed at orchestra concerts where its repetitiveness is quite apparent. I once had a choreographer describe how she would stage Bolero. It would be the arrival of a desert caravan, beginning with a few personages, and ending with the entire caravan filling up the stage at the end. Performed that way, it would work.
Thank you for the information. The choreographer’s comments are priceless!
Maybe I will have to give Ravel another go, and find something of his that I do like.
This is what I love so much about this thread; so much knowledge that I would be missing.
How about theme music for the Dustin Hofffman movie Ishtar?
Cheers!