RAVEL: THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR SOLO PIANO - GIESEKING (2 CDS)

Walter Gieseking, though German, was born in the French city of Lyon and is admired above all as a brilliant and entrancingly perceptive interpreter of Debussy and Ravel. “He created a sound world in this repertoire that had no precedent, except perhaps in the composers’ imaginations,” wrote Gramophone, while the New York Times has said that: “His playing, though focused and rhythmically exact, proves that deep concentration does not have to be intense … There is never a sense of strain or tension; everything is natural and full of character.”

Ravel: Menuet antique

Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte

Ravel: Jeux d'eau

Ravel: Sonatine

I. Modéré
II. Mouvement de menuet
III. Animé



Ravel: Miroirs, 5 pieces for piano

I. Noctuelles
II. Oiseaux triste
III. Une barque sur l'océan
IV. Alborada del gracioso
V. La vallée des cloches



Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit

I. Ondine
II. Le Gibet
III. Scarbo

Ravel: Menuet sur le nom de Haydn

Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales

I. Modéré - Très franc
II. Assez lent (avec une expression intense)
III. Modéré
IV. Assez animé
V. Presque lent (dans un sentiment intime)
VI. Vif
VII. Moins vif
VIII. Epilogue (Lent)


Ravel: Prelude in A Minor, M. 65

Ravel: A la manière de Borodine

Ravel: A la manière de Chabrier

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin

I. Prélude
II. Fugue
III. Forlane
IV. Rigaudon
V. Menuet
VI. Toccata