Ravel: Piano Concertos; Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain

Featuring

Steven Osborne
Ludovic Morlot
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Maurice Ravel
Manuel de Falla

Did you know?

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Composition History

Ravel wrote his two piano concertos simultaneously, a feat he questioned if anyone had done before.

Critical Reception

Ravel was never reconciled to Paul Wittgenstein's treatment of the Piano Concerto for the left hand, famously retorting 'Performers are slaves' when Wittgenstein claimed they should not be.

Composition History

Manuel de Falla originally intended his work Nights in the gardens of Spain to be for solo piano, but the Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes suggested expanding it for piano and orchestra.

Composition History

Ravel's Piano Concerto for the left hand was commissioned after he heard the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein playing a work written for him by Richard Strauss.

Critical Reception

Arthur Rubinstein initially said nothing about Falla's Nights in the gardens of Spain after its premiere, but later performed it regularly after hearing a performance by Ricardo Viñes.

Composer Biography

Ravel initially considered playing the solo part of his G major Piano Concerto himself, but friends persuaded him that his mid-fifties were not the best time to launch a virtuoso career.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Manuel de Falla insisted that Nights in the gardens of Spain was not 'descriptive' but 'expressive', stating that 'sorrow and mystery also have their place' in the work.