Alexandre Tharaud - Ravel: Concertos - Falla: Noches en los jardines de España (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

The music of Ravel is especially close to Alexandre Tharaud’s heart. Now, in partnership with the Orchestre National de France and conductor Louis Langrée, he has recorded both the composer’s piano concertos, pairing them with Noches en los jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), Manuel de Falla’s sumptuous three-movement work for piano and orchestra. All three of these works have been part of Tharaud’s life since he was a teenager. Taking his connection to Ravel a step further, in 2024 the French pianist will be seen in a film based by director Anne Fontaine on the composer’s life, entitled Boléro.

“Ravel’s Concerto in G major is fresh and Mozartian in its colours, while his Concerto for the Left Hand is haunted by dark shades and suppressed fears,” says Tharaud. Both works were premiered in 1932 – the Concerto in G by the great French pianist Marguerite Long, the Concerto for the Left Hand by Paul Wittgenstein, the Viennese pianist who had lost his right arm as a soldier in World War 1.

“Both concertos were written between 1929 and 1931,” continues Tharaud. “Characteristically for Ravel, they are simultaneously unique and alike. They share meticulous craftsmanship and jazzy touches, and both evoke little automata and the ghosts of war. Moments of great tenderness will be followed by a rumble of thunder … and each of them ends with the slice of a guillotine.” The two concertos are brilliantly kaleidoscopic in their instrumentation and rhythms. “Ravel paid the greatest attention to detail in his writing for the soloist and for each orchestral musician. He wanted us to enjoy ourselves.”

TRACKLIST

1. Alexandre Tharaud - Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: I. Allegramente
2. Alexandre Tharaud - Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai
3. Alexandre Tharaud - Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: III. Presto
4. Alexandre Tharaud - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82: I. Lento
5. Alexandre Tharaud - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82: II. Allegro
6. Alexandre Tharaud - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82: III. Tempo I
7. Alexandre Tharaud - Noches en los jardines de España: I. En el Generalife
8. Alexandre Tharaud - Noches en los jardines de España: II. Danza Lejana
9. Alexandre Tharaud - Noches en los jardines de España: III. En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba



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