Ravel left hand concerto

[fnork]

last performance out of three on tour with orchestra. I ended up not having that much of practicing prior to the concert, some slips were present, but perhaps the orchestra played the best at this concert. And Sibelius Reverie worked well as an encore (the piece performed before the Ravel was Sibelius "En saga")

[gvans]

Bravo, Martin. Fascinating piece--I must confess I've never listened through it before, although I'd heard the story of how Ravel came to compose it for Wittgenstein, the concert pianist and brother of the philosopher, after the poor fellow lost his right arm in WWI.

Some random thoughts: A very wet hall, I sensed you held back on the pedal some to accommodate. At the onset, it seemed as if the piano and orchestra were coming from two different worlds, but as the composition unfolded, there was more and more intertwining between the two. The jazzed up march or whatever it is, 8:30-11:00, seemed reminiscent of Gershwin and the second movement of the violin sonata, and blended piano and orchestra well. Your playing in the lyric section to follow was extraordinary, the voicing of the melody especially well done.

I know how difficult it is to play in the high treble with the left hand...but you seemed unfazed.

Wonderful performance! Thank you.

[fnork]

Somehow I missed this - thank you for the kind words! You should certainly have a few more listens to it, in some of the good and famous recordings out there. I like how you describe how the piano and orchestra seem to come from different worlds - indeed, there isn't much 'dialogue' to talk about here! Which makes it an interesting piece to work on in a way, because there is almost nothing to 'argue' about with the conductor - you make sure you know your part, and the conductor makes sure the orchestra does their best. That's it....

thanks for commenting!