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.

Mussorgsky / Ravel - Pictures At An Exhibition [Gergiev-London Philharmonic Orchestra]

Notice how i call this a Ravel composition, and not merely by Mussorgsky?, i don't think Ravel gets enough credit here, his contribution isn't merely to put some colour into a black & white photograph, he has to make major decisions of orchestral colouring and instrumentation, the end product is half his, this is the first time this disc appears in my Blog, and only the second time i've played it, there used to be a time i felt that Pictures At An Exhibition was a bit pandering to Classical novice, nice fun tunes, but serious classical music?, now i feel a lot warmer towards this composition, there's real sophistication there too.

Valery Gergiev is Russian, he's now 61, he made this recording back in 1989, it's amazing that some of these digital recordings are now almost 'half a lifetime away' for the Artists that recorded them!, the front cover photograph [by Fernando van Teylingen], is really artistic, showing Gergiev dressed up, baton in hand [though i believe he now rarely uses one], the props of a chair and music stand, love the orange shadow, and the box with the letting is fantastic, very well laid out.

Pictures At An Exhibition consists of ten pictures, but there's fifteen tracks when you factor in the promenades between pictures, so i liked numbers 1-2, 4, 7 & 13-15 the best, and it was the last two tracks that i felt were the best, Mussorgsky seems to build up the whole thing for a real finale, so here's my feeling on these two pieces,
The Hut On Fowl's Legs [3:28] - After the mystery and quiet of 'Cum Mortuis In Lingua Mortua', 'The Hut On Fowls Legs' can sound like a bunch of yobs bursting in on a candlelight vigil, the drums break the silence, but it's the brass that really do the destructive work [0:23+], strings are frantic, strangely enough there's this central respite [1:09-1:34], the flute gently undulates while the bassoon mumbles away, i like the way the xylophone comes in to give it colour, but the yobs come back to their desecration [2:26+].
The Great Gate Of Kiev [5:24] - Which culminates without a break, straight into 'The Great Gate Of Kiev', the brass fanfare in splendour, it's a great moment that gives satisfying musical release [0:00-0:57], but then strangely there's a lull of peace, of a woodwind plainchant [0:58-1:31], before the brass splendour comes back again [1:32-2:03], only for the woodwind plainchant to come back [2:03-2:35], and then the bells toll [2:35+] what a great idea, it's almost a funeral procession that slowly develops into a frenzy, i love the glockenspiel here, a blaze of brass glory, the very end is well done, with an extra sense of regal fanfare [4:41+], a nice loud and satisfying end.

Here's Gergiev conducting these last two pictures on YouTube.

Ravel - String Quartet [Carmina String Quartet]

It's great to revisit this disc again, the last time i played it was in 2013, i delved into the Carmina Quartet when they won an award for their Szymanowski String Quartets, and that disc is superb, so it's good to find this is up to standard also, it's got a lovely front booklet cover, i well shot photo, with a blue theme, this disc appeared in my Blog early in its incarnation [27th January 2010].

The Carmina String Quartet are still going strong, now clocking up their 30 year anniversary, they are from Switzerland, they recorded this disc in 1992 on the Denon label.

So the best thing about this performance was the second movement assez vif, tres rythme = fairly lively, very rhythmic, and it's certainly the rhythmic bit which is very fitting, lots of pizzicato involved, love the way Ravel starts this movement, with a pizzicato quartet [0:00-0:15], very satisfying indeed, but even when the bowing comes in, there's always some instrument still playing pizzicato, and Ravel uses the power of each instrument to give different string effects, a treble twang from the violins, and a deep bass from the cello, there's a serene middle section of mainly bowing [1:51-4:48], and even within this middle section there's a couple of more sour and searching little episodes [3:28-3:45 & 4:08-4:26], i just love the lead back to the opening [4:46-5:10], it's such a tease!, and even within this passage, there's a great little rhythmic run by i believe the viola [4:56+], and the movement ends on a staggered last loud pizzicato!

Here's the Hagen String Quartet playing the second movement on YouTube.

Ravel - Two Handed Piano Concerto [Aimard /Boulez-The Cleveland Orchestra] 

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.

Ravel - Gaspard De La Nuit [Berezovsky] 

This was a great experience, i always get a nice little thrill just before putting this work on, there's a certain degree of anticipation at the opening ripples, Ravel's soundworld is fantastic, unlike say Beethoven, it's as if written music of keys and bar lines and notes are gone, and we're into pure expressionism, conjured up at the very moment that the fingers hit the keys, plus Ravel makes things devilishly difficult, only a player of truly commensurate skill can do this triptych justice, and Berezovsky is one of those Pianists that has virtuoso at his fingertips, but it takes more, you need a real chimerical feeling for the soundworld, the trick is to get the hearer to forget about fingers and keys, and just listen to sounds, just the same as a Film Director needs to get the audience to forget about a camera and Actors, and be drawn into his world as if it's real people in real time, now that's a hard checklist.

Boris Berezovsky is Russian, he's now 43, he made this recording in 1994, wow i can't believe that that's not far off 20 years!, seems like he made the recording yesterday, the front cover photo is stunning! [by Micheal Chambati Woodhead], of Berezovsky after a concert i take it, witing in the wings as it were, like some Olympic Ice Skater waiting for his score, a bouquet on the floor at his feet, and his bow tie half taken off, the real stunningness of the photo is the mirror image that is created behind him, but not a glass mirror, a shiny steel mirror that muddies the reflection, very reminiscent of some of the music on the disc, the lettering is perfect, and perfectly placed, the expressionless look on his face, what a great cover!.

Of all these three pieces, it just has to be the opening Ondine i loved the most, it is so beguiling, the opening rippling ostinato is perfect in conjuring up the Water Fairy Ondine, not merely two notes repeated 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2..., but rather 1-2-1-1-2-1-1-2-1-1-2..., very much harder to play for the right hand, and the left plays the melody, of course it never remains robotically simple, and lovely new stronger ripples join in [0:45+], and cascades of water join the scene, like mesmerizing strumming on harps [0:52+], i love the way Berezovsky surprises me with sudden loud splashes [2:55+], and right after constant cascades, one after another [3:00-3:16], growing in ferocity, there's a lull near the end where only the soft melody is heard [4:43-5:01], but it ends on one last splash and is quietly gone, the melody lingers in the air, it's a lovely piece of evocative music.

Here's Valentina Lisitsa playing Ondine on YouTube.

Ravel - Piano Concerto [Zimerman/Boulez-The Cleveland Orchestra]

A lovely disc, i really enjoyed playing this one, beautifully recorded, the bizarre ornamentation by Ravel nicely caught by the microphones, i certainly enjoyed Ravel's penchant for jazzy ideas, it's a nice stew of a lot of things, and the Composer brings it all off with aplomb, this is the second time the recording of this work has appeared in my Blog, i played it almost a year ago [6th April 2011], and this listening has deepened my understanding and love for it.

Krystian Zimerman is Polish, now 55 years old, he recorded this work in 1994, the front cover photo [by Susesch Bayat] of Boulez and Zimerman is very nice, clear sharp shot, nice colours, and a sort of symmetry about it.

I very much enjoyed the first two movements of this Concerto, i heard things that i haven't heard before, the second movement Adagio was gorgeous and revelatory, usually it's the opening 3 minute solo that enchants me the most, it truly is a mesmerizing shimmer of notes, however on this listen it's what came afterwards, slowly the movement goes from light to dark, and it's these sombre undercurrents that i found so meaningful,

Here's Krystian Zimerman playing the central Adagio on YouTube.

Ravel - Piano Concerto [Lortie/Burgos-London Symphony Orchestra] 

This is the first time i've played this disc, it's a nice alternative to the usual Zimerman / Boulez disc that i own, any work that i really love i want to get at least a 'second opinion' of with someone else, i love Lortie in the Chopin Etudes, so it's good to get to know him here too, and he conveniently gives us the Faure Ballade too, and what a beautiful and exciting work his Piano Concerto is, 

Ravel - String Quartet [Quatuor Ysaye]

Six of the eight entries for Ravel in my Blog are for his String Quartet, it's certainly popular with me, this was another disc that i played last year by the Quatour Ysaye [11th July 2010], and it's good to revisit it again, incidentally it's only recently i worked out how to pronounce 'Ysaye', i used to say WHY-SAY, really it's EE-SA-EE.

Quatuor Ysaye are a French formed String Quartet, founded in 1984 in Paris, since this recording two new members have been cycled in, they recorded these Quartets in 1990, the front cover booklet is great [photo by Gerard Rondeau], a nicely posed portrait session, rich browns and cream, it works very well, quite uncluttered, and the lettering is great too.

Here's The Hagen String Quartet playing the second movement on YouTube.