This is the first time i've listened to this disc, in fact it's the first time i've listened to Aimard, i've certainly wanted to delve in things he had to say, also surprising is that Boulez made a recording for DG of the same exact work, with Krystian Zimerman as Pianist in 1994, same orchestra as well!, the evergreen Piano Concerto of Ravel is slowing yielding its charms to me, the middle movement is so easy to like, the outer movements take a little more time, plus it was good to delve into the solo Miroirs on this recording.
Pierre-Laurent Aimard is French, he will be 55 next week, he made this recording in 2010, the front cover photograph [by Felix Broede] is quite stunning, a superb reflection on the piano top, booklet cut in half horizontally, the dark and light, nice blank backgrounds, the lettering well laid out in nice colours, a joy to own.
The middle movement almost gets us believing that it's going to be a piano solo, the opening piano is so gut-wrenchingly beautiful [0:00-2:52], sad and endearing, very Gymnopedie / Satie-esque, you don't want the orchestra to come in and spoil the enchantment, it's a simple tune, yet complex enough to meander all over the place, and even when the flute / oboe / clarinet / flute skilfully merge / blend in [2:53-3:53], Ravel actually keeps the spell up, sour yet sweet notes permeate with cor anglais / bassoon in the background [3:53-4:33], the treble chiming notes are a welcome change / variety [4:58-5:19], i like this a lot, the piece develops a section of anger, before the opening orchestra serenity is restored by a gorgeous cor anglais solo [6:17-8:20] underpinned by treble meanderings by the piano, now that is so superb!, thank you Ravel, what a tremendous section, and right after the piano keeps on its treble tinklings, that slowly meander down the keyboard [8:18-8:50], now that's something akin to a religious experience, so so tender and comforting.
Here's Helene Grimaud playing the middle slow movement on YouTube.
Here's Helene Grimaud playing the middle slow movement on YouTube.
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