Ravel: The Piano Concertos

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth, the South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho recorded all of the French composer’s piano music, including this brilliantly responsive album of the two piano concertos. “Both the G major Concerto and the Concerto for the Left Hand have very distinct qualities,” Cho tells Apple Music Classical, “especially considering Ravel was working on both works at the same time.” Ravel started composing both concertos in 1929, following his tour of the US. “The G major carries a traditional three movement form with playfulness,” says Cho, “while the Concerto for the Left Hand is written in one long movement form and is far more intense and dramatic, having been written for Paul Wittgenstein, a pianist who lost his right arm in World War I.” Cho is closely attuned to the Left Hand Concerto’s darker, more introspective agenda. But the real showpiece here is his interpretation of the popular Concerto in G major. “I first encountered the Ravel Concerto in G in 2009,” says the Korean pianist, “and this piece has grown with me throughout the years. Having studied in Paris, I feel particularly close to French works and having just recorded the complete solo piano works as well, it helped me to fully immerse myself in everything Ravel.” Cho is full of praise for the orchestra with which he has recorded these concertos, and the G major in particular: “I really enjoyed working with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, particularly for a piece that carries a lot of jazz influence. Ravel’s impressions from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is very apparent, and the jazz rhythms and blues notes were fun to explore together with BSO.” In the G major’s slow movement, Cho distils a ravishing poetry with exquisite solos from the Boston Symphony’s woodwind section. His piano tone is consistently beautiful, but he finds a rare sense of poignancy too. In the opening movement, Cho bobs and weaves his way athletically through the tangy, jazz-inflected textures of Ravel’s orchestra, while in the top-speed finale he shows a dazzling élan and vivacity. Collaborating with Cho in these sparklingly expressive accounts is conductor Andris Nelsons, who draws razor-sharp rhythms from his Boston players. “It is always such a pleasure to work with Andris Nelsons,” says Cho. “When we are on stage together, his natural musicality and spontaneity in the way he makes music allows me to be completely free in the performance.”