Ravel: Piano Concertos (CD)

Having loved Ravel since childhood, Seong-Jin Cho has chosen to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth by recording his complete solo piano music and the two concertos. He is joined in the latter by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, following acclaimed live performances with them as part of his ongoing focus on the French composer. Cho’s insightful readings of Ravel, on stage and in the studio, underline his status as one of today’s most elegant and accomplished pianists, ten years on from his Chopin Competition victory.
Reviewing their Carnegie Hall performance of the Concerto for the Left Hand, Bachtrack hailed the way “Cho’s left hand scampered along the keyboard with ease, power and finesse, answering the orchestra’s initial crescendo with dark, thundering chords and a breathtaking cadenza”, while The New Criterion called his playing “simply exemplary”. 
For his part, the pianist praises the BSO and its Music Director, recalling the expertise in the French repertoire for which the orchestra has been renowned for a century or more, since the days of Nelsons’ predecessors Pierre Monteux, Charles Munch and Sergei Koussevitzky. “Performing with the BSO, you feel like the French spirit is in their blood – it was so inspiring to play and record with them, and of course working with Andris is always a real joy.”

RAVEL
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, M. 82
Piano Concerto in G major, M. 83

ARTISTS
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons