Steven Osborne enchants with Ravel
Shortly before Ravel composed his piano concerto, he and Gershwin went on a music-hunt through the jazz clubs of Harlem. Their visit to the legendary Cotton Club provided the material he wanted for this blues-laced piece. Some years earlier, Gershwin’s experience of walking the streets of Paris, taxi horns blaring in the maelstrom of traffic, had culminated in the creation of a swirling urban fantasia of his own, An American in Paris. Similarly, the rumba rhythms of Havana take centre stage in his festive Cuban Overture. The vitality of Gershwin’s orchestral works contrasts beautifully with Ravel’s softly lilting Pavane or the sophistication of Valses nobles et sentimentales. Conductor Kazuki Yamada pulls off the tightrope act of balancing these very different, but equally eloquent musical contemporaries. Steven Osborne, at the top of his game, is the soloist in Ravel’s Piano Concerto. Prepare to be awed.
Programme
Gershwin Cuban Overture
Ravel Concerto for Piano in G major
Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte
Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales
Gershwin An American in Paris
Performers
Steven Osborne
piano