The Ravel Concerto in G Major is a revelatory work. Jazz influences abound and are seamlessly integrated into the piano score and orchestration of the concerto. Ravel's success in blending of Jazz and Classical elements is matched only by George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and you will hear Gershwin clearly in the first movement of this work.
In 1928, Ravel had undertaken a very successful tour of the the United States where he met Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and other Jazz greats. Their influence on Ravel was profound.
Of the ten recordings of the Ravel Concerto in G Major offered below, three are beautifully played by Martha Argerich. All are fine performances.
The Adagio assai is the movement that melts me. It is very difficult to play in that the exquisitely languid melody must maintain its plasticity and float over a bass that is determined to bring it to ground. In the wrong hands the base can have an element of the oom-pah-pah and the melody cannot maintain its forward momentum, delicate as it is. The Bernstein recording is symptomatic of those regrettably falling prey to this.
The three that I find enchanting are the 1985 Argerich, and the ones by Hélène Grimaud and Cor de Groot. Both women achieve the plasticity I spoke of in part through the use of a subtle rubato, avoiding that the melodic beats fall squarely on the bass.
De Groot, one of the worlds most wonderful, if unsung, pianists, has a singing legato, even in pianissimo passages, bell-like, that overcomes all. He makes more of the left hand than do the others, giving it the rubato and a linear quality that results in a contrapuntal effect. His timbre is orchestral and builds in intensity with the orchestras increasing participation. A stunning performance, poor recording quality notwithstanding.
And Michelangeli's performance of the Ravel Concerto in G Major is one of the classics. He is such a great artist that no matter what he does, it just works.
But the pièce de résistance is the Adagio from the recording by Marguerite Long to whom Ravel dedicated the concerto. The concerto was given its première By Long with Ravel conducting the Lamoureux Orchestra not long before this recording was made.
Ravel had said of a performance of his music by Toscanini, “I don’t ask for my music to be interpreted, but only that it should be played.” This is an apt description of his own performance style which tended toward being clipped, almost abrupt, eschewing sentimentality and romanticism, and it is in this style that Marguerite Long plays the concerto.
Interestingly, the vertical element of the Adagio is attenuated by the way in which it maintains its forward impetus, lilting and, yes, lightly bouncing its way to its inevitable conclusion.
Marguerite Long (1874-1966) French Pianist Maurice Ravel conducting the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux Recorded in 1932
Martha Argerich (b 1941) Argentinian Pianist Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Martha Argerich (b 1941) Argentinian Pianist Aldo Ceccato conducting the Rundfunkorchester Hannover des NDR Recorded in 1985
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Martha Argerich (b 1941) Argentinian Pianist Charles Dutoit conducting the Orchestre National de France Recorded in 1990
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) American Pianist and conductor conducting the Orchestre National de France from the piano
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
François-René Duchable (b 1952) French Pianist Armin Jordan conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Recorded in 1987
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Hélène Grimaud (b 1969) French Pianist Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Of the following recording, I have only found the second movement. It is a marvelous interpretation of the Adagio of the Ravel Concerto in G Major by one of the great pianists, great conductors and great orchestras. I will continue to search for the missing movements and add them if and as I find them.
Cor de Groot (1914-1993) Dutch Pianist Eduard van Beinum conducting the Concertgebouw Orkest Recorded live in 1941
ii Adagio assai
The next recordings, by Alicia de Larrocha, are incomplete. Of the first we have only the first and third movements, of the second, only the third movement. Regretably, the Adagio is missing from both. Nonetheless, the recordings we do have of this remarkable pianist have much to offer, and a comparison of the two versions of the final movement is most interesting.
Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009) Spanish-Catalan Pianist
Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Recorded in 1997
i Allegramente
iii Presto
Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra iii Presto
François-Frédéric Guy (b 1969) French Pianist Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra Recorded in 2006
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Yundi Li (b 1982) Chinese Pianist Seiji Ozawa conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Finally, Michelangeli accompanied by the legendary Romanian conductor, Sergiu Celibidache. The Australian pianist, Eileen Joyce, said that Celibidache was the greatest conductor she had ever worked with, that "he was the only one who got inside my soul". See if he gets inside Michelangeli's soul in this performance of the Ravel Concerto in G Major.
And an excerpt of the first movement from a concert in Japan in 1965.
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995) Italian Pianist Sergiu Celibidache conducting the London Symphony Orchestra Recorded in 1982
i Allegramente
ii Adagio assai
iii Presto
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995) Italian Pianist Alexander Rumpf conducting the NHK Symphony Orchestra Recorded in 1965
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