Some lifted thoughts on Ravel's piano music

[lontano]

I found the following clip in liner notes of Angel Hewitt's complete recording of Ravel's piano music. It's just a little food for thought.
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Ravel himself was not a very good pianist and knew it. His friends used to argue over which he was worse at: playing the piano or conducting. He was to have given the premiere of his G major piano concerto, but opted out at the last minute. Despite this lack of virtuosity, he left us with some of the most ‘pianistic’ music ever written, and certainly some of the most difficult! The transparency and perfect craftsmanship of his piano music demands an infallible technique – and by that I don’t just mean playing fast and loud. You need a highly developed sense of colour and rhythm, and an incredible amount of poetry and imagination. It is as though you first need to be an expert at Mozart and Liszt before attempting Ravel. As in Mozart you need a precise, alert, but beautifully shaded touch – combined with the fluidity, stamina and brilliance needed to play Liszt. Ravel delighted in certain technical challenges – especially repeated notes, glissandi, left-hand arpeggios covering almost the whole keyboard, hands in an overlapped position, very large stretches, and irregular double-note passages.

[werq34ac]

My thoughts on Ravel exactly. Mozartian perfection combined with Lisztian pianism.

[redbaron]

Ravel made recordings of Jeux D'eau, Ondine, Le Gibet and the first movement of the Sonata, none of which are easy pieces by any stretch of the imagination. Okay so maybe he couldn't quite manage Scarbo or the Toccata but being able to play any the above pieces is no mean feat, especially so with Jeux D'eau and Ondine. And yet this idea that he was not a good pisnist still persists...

Clara Schumann, apparently one of the finest pianists of her day reportedly admitted to Brahms that his Paganini Variations were beyond her ability. Does this also mean that we should think any the less of her as a pianist?

[drkilroy]

I believe there was a piano roll of Ravel playing his Toccata, I can be wrong however.

Best regards, Dr

[redbaron]

I believe there was a piano roll of Ravel playing his Toccata

There is indeed however it is widely believed that it was actually recorded by Robert Casadesus rather than Ravel himself.