Hello everyone,
Please tell me what you think. This was recorded in a live concert.

Ondine -> http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=570105&T=8956
Scarbo -> http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=569803&T=9103

Wow your crazy, ya gooesebumps, scarbo is absolutely insane.

Hey, thank you very much for your comments. I'm really glad you enjoyed it!

it wont let me play it....i dont know why

Thanks again I don't know about a list, but I know that when Ravel wrote this piece it was meant to be the most difficult for piano solo, replacing Balakiriev's Islamey.

Ravel was introduced to the poems of the French poet Aloysius Bertrand by his friend Ricardo Viñes, and he chose three pomes (Ondine, Le Gibet and Scarbo) to write his work for piano after. I think they are quite interesting actually. Anyway Ravel was apparently fascinated by them and decided to call his work "Gaspard de la Nuit", after Bertrand's book "Gaspard de la Nuit: Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot", although only Ondine is an actual part of the book; Le Gibet and Scarbo were taken from a different book by Bertrand. Ravel's music is surely inspired by the poems, but obviously he added much out of his own imagination.
Ravel has told Maurice Delage, his friend and pupil, that he wanted this work to be of transcendental virtuosity, and that he wanted it to be more difficult than Balakirev's Islamey, which was known as the most technically difficult piece for piano at the time. But I think none of this matters, these pieces are probably not the most difficult ever written, as difficult as they are.

Hey ajw400, thank you for your kind words. I am a 22 years old student and I don't have recordings of me to buy, but I am flattered by the thought

Both your ideas sound interesting, and I should check them out some time.

Gorgeous playing. You are very talented!

I loved the Ondine ^^  Honestly sounds like a professional playing.

Hey guys I got new recordings of these pieces, also from a live concert. here they are:

Ondine -> http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=673697&t=4961
Scarbo -> http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=673689&t=5423

Listen and comment if you like
ciao

Beautiful performance. Congrats!

btw, i also heard ur schumann symphonic etudes! great playing!

heh I'm also 22...  I'm glad you guys arent teens playing Proko and Ravel like that..

An absolutely astonishing and fantastic performance of Scarbo!  I was blown away by it.  Just extraordinary.  I could listen to your playing all night. 

rachfan, thank you so much for bringing up this old thread!

I never heard such a beautiful piano playing in my whole life - it's a miracle.


And now guess, who won the 1st prize in the

Newport International Competition for Young Pianists 2006

The Final took place on Saturday 14 October with each of the three finalists performing a Concerto accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Jac van Steen.
Congratulations to this year’s winner Ishay Shaer!

Ishay performed Chopin’s Concerto No 2 in F minor, op 21

http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=riverfront.whatson&contentid=CONT055166

Haha, I think Ishay is a dude. The name Yishay is Hebrew for "Jesse" who was a King - also the father of the famous King David. 

Wow i cant believe u pulled this off!

I started learning this. I could learning this but I'm going to put it off due to its difficulty

BTW this is Ravels only useful piece

..al


wow!! fabulous playing!! if there is anything to say about it it would be that i think there are slight misreadings at both of the big climaxes - in the 1st one (C bass) you play Eb on the second of the two chords each time - it should stay as e natural.  and at the 2nd climax (B bass) on the second chord each time you play D natural whereas it should stay as D sharp.

hope those comments help - fantastic playing!!


elevateme's scarbo...       ....coming soon.....

I just listened to Ondine, played it myself recently. Beautifully played, a very refreshing interpretation, and good balance between accompaniement and melody - one of the real difficulties with this piece, I think.
As I wrote in my own "Ondine thread" (it's somewhere in the Audition room), my former teacher studied with Vlado Perlemuter, who studied Ravels complete works with the composer. Ravel was very careful about details in his works and could work with Perlemuter on a single bar in a simple valse for an hour, making him play it over and over again until he got it right. If there's anything I think you could work on more (because you have all the technique and colour you need for the piece), it is to take a closer look at what's written in the score and avoid adding too much to this. This might sound boring for an interpreter, but why not be an open window for the music on the score? Remember what the composer said: "One should not interpret my music, one should realize it." One last thing, which I also wrote about when I posted my "Ondine" recording, is that I prefer a somewhat slower tempo where all accompaniement figures can be heard clearly and evenly - almost the clarity you need for a Mozart sonata. Try to imitate how a harpist would play these arpeggios.

Well, I shouldn't say too much because you play this far far better than I do! Any advice for practicing the double-note passage before the climax? I've always found it really hard to pull off, started practicing Chopins op 25 no 6 to improve thirds, hoping it could help.

What other works did Ravel write at the time when he wrote "Gaspard"? Would be interresting to know...