Yuja Wang plays Ravel. I remember clearly the first time that I heard the piano concerto by Maurice Ravel. It was at Carnegie Hall, and the soloist was non other than Martha Argerich. Yes, I have heard it with great pleasure many times since that first experience. On this new recording, we hear Yuja Wnag in a recording to be issued on October 9th, with two favorites: Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, and Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major. Both are heavily influenced by jazz, which Ravel had encountered on a concert tour of the United States in 1928. The CD track titles are: Fauré:
- Ballade in F sharp major for solo piano or piano and orchestra, Op. 19
Maurice Ravel:
- Piano Concerto in G major
- Piano Concerto in D major (for the left hand)
Performed by Yuja Wang (piano), with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Lionel Bringuier conducting. Yuja Wang has established herself as an international performer. She plays with the world’s leading orchestras—including those of New York, London, Amsterdam, and Berlin—regularly joining them on world-wide tours. Ravel composed both concertos between 1929 and 1930. The latter was commissioned by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm during World War I. The combination of Yuja’s legendary technical skills with her interpretative intelligence transforms this album into an amazing musical experience with a haunting and jazzy sound. Here is pianist Yuja Wang, rehearsing the Ravel:
And here is the magical second movement of the Ravel Piano Concerto in G-major, with Yuja Wang, and conducted by Charles Dutoit:
