Ravel In The Forest

The beauty of nature meets 20th-century French composer Maurice Ravel in this inventive album. Belle Chen is equally adept at conjuring digital effects as she is creating stunning piano textures. And here she combines the two on a journey through the forest canopy, where we encounter birds, insects, and other animals through rain and moonlight. Snatches of Ravel, from the String Quartet (“Kingdom Animalia”), the Piano Concerto in G (“Adagio, Sans,” “Assai, Assai”), and Miroirs (“And It Rains”) bring impressionistic hues and provide springboards for Chen’s fertile musical imagination.