Wittgenstein playing the Cadenza
filmed in Paris in 1933

Almost every one of the following performances of the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand is first class.  Some are more coloristic, more French, more Ravel perhaps, like the Cortot.  Others, like the Wittgenstein/Walter, explore the  darker, more dramatic, almost cinematic side of the work which I believe was the intent of the composer.  And there are those which explore the more pianistic and orchestral elements.  They are all wonderful, but if pressed I would single out the Monique Hass/Paul Paray pairing as an exquisite example of the French post war style. And perhaps my favorite is the recording by Virsaladze, a spectacular Georgian pianist and among the great women pianists of our time.

As I said, there are many fine performances here, but upon re-hearing, I must extoll the virtues of the performance by Ciccolini and Martinon as being the one I like the best, both from a pianistic and an orchestral standpoint. And here pianist and conductor and orchestra are of one mind in producing an uninterpreted Ravelian chef d'oeuvre. Interestingly, certain similarities to the music of Respighi, an exact contemporary of Ravel really make themselves known to me in this recording.

I include as well brief excerpts from performances of the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand by Leon Fleisher, Ivan Ilić and Ishay Shaer as they provide excellent views of the left hand techniques while playing the cadenza of the. I also include a recording by Yakov Flier which I find very much to my liking.

There are so many performances that I had to continue them on a second page: Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand II

ALFRED CORTOT
French-Swiss pianist (1877-1962)

Charles Munch conducting l'Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris 

recorded in 1939

ROBERT CASADESUS
French pianist (1899-1972)

Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra
recorded in 1947

Sergiu Celibidache conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra
recorded live in 1952

VLADO PERLEMUTER
Lithuanian-born French pianist (1904-2002)

Jascha Horenstein conducting l'Orchestre des Concerts Colonne

recorded in 1955 

JEAN DOYEN
French pianist (1907-1982)

Jean Fournet conducting l'Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

recorded in 1954 


beginning

conclusion

MONIQUE HAAS
French pianist (1909-1987)

Paul Paray conducting the Orchestre National de la RTF, Paris

Recorded in 1965 

JACQUELINE BLANCARD
Swiss pianist (1909-1994)

Ernest Ansermet conducting l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

YAKOV FLIER
Russian pianist (1912-1977)

Yevgeni Svetlanov conducting the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR

excerpt recorded in 1965

EMIL GILELS
Soviet pianist  (1916-1985)

Kurt Sanderling conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
recorded live in 1952

beginning