Ravel - Gaspard De La Nuit [Grosvenor]
This is the first time i've played this disc, bought it because it looked great, and i've heard some good things about Grosvenor, so it is just a disc to check out, not a disc i'm quite sure i want to keep yet, but on this listen Gaspard is fantastic, great sound too, some fresh new ideas too.
Benjamin Grosvenor is English, still just 22, and he recorded this disc in 2011 when he was just 18, it's certainly not a perfect recital, i feel it's made up of too many little things, a better programme would have been better, the front cover is very good [photo by Sussie Ahlburg], a black & white shot with white and orange lettering over the front.
Ravel's Gaspard De la Nuit is a feast of piano playing, Michelangeli once said that there isn't a piano that can do proper justice to the piece, and i can see what he means, it's a very chimerical world, the first movement was the best closely followed by the second, i especially enjoyed the bell tolling in Le Gibet, Ondine is of course a water fairy, that entices men to her kingdom at the bottom of the lake, to a watery grave, so of course there's cascades of notes, a very free expression of the piano, the opening is heavenly, the rippling in the right hand sets the watery scene, and it's the left hand that takes the melody, the opening returning while the left hand plays now lower in the keyboard is a lovely moment [1:39-1:57], the left hand playing higher up the keyboard likewise creates a beautiful effect [2:36-2:48], and the cascade upon cascade of the right hand down the keyboard is stunning [3:12-3:31], getting faster and faster, the four sharp flashes of shimmering light / water [5:51-5:55] really hit me, Grosvenor really gets them right, and the piano / recording is his servant here, a beautiful sound.
Here's Grosvenor playing Gaspard De La Nuit on YouTube.
Benjamin Grosvenor is English, still just 22, and he recorded this disc in 2011 when he was just 18, it's certainly not a perfect recital, i feel it's made up of too many little things, a better programme would have been better, the front cover is very good [photo by Sussie Ahlburg], a black & white shot with white and orange lettering over the front.
Ravel's Gaspard De la Nuit is a feast of piano playing, Michelangeli once said that there isn't a piano that can do proper justice to the piece, and i can see what he means, it's a very chimerical world, the first movement was the best closely followed by the second, i especially enjoyed the bell tolling in Le Gibet, Ondine is of course a water fairy, that entices men to her kingdom at the bottom of the lake, to a watery grave, so of course there's cascades of notes, a very free expression of the piano, the opening is heavenly, the rippling in the right hand sets the watery scene, and it's the left hand that takes the melody, the opening returning while the left hand plays now lower in the keyboard is a lovely moment [1:39-1:57], the left hand playing higher up the keyboard likewise creates a beautiful effect [2:36-2:48], and the cascade upon cascade of the right hand down the keyboard is stunning [3:12-3:31], getting faster and faster, the four sharp flashes of shimmering light / water [5:51-5:55] really hit me, Grosvenor really gets them right, and the piano / recording is his servant here, a beautiful sound.
Here's Grosvenor playing Gaspard De La Nuit on YouTube.
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