The Complete Works of Ravel, Vol. 1

Featuring

Artur Pizarro
Maurice Ravel

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Critical Reception

Despite Ravel's immaculate writing, some contemporary critics, like The Times in 1924, described his work as 'clever, but very small, things within a limited scope' with 'almost reptilian cold-bloodedness'.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, in September 2006, and features a Hamburg Steinway D piano prepared by Nigel Polmaer.

Performer Biography

Artur Pizarro's piano education connects him to both German and French piano schools, as his teacher Sequeira Costa was a student of figures like Vianna da Motta and Marguerite Long.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Ravel, whom Stravinsky called 'the Swiss watchmaker', was a self-professed perfectionist on a quest for 'l'objet juste' – an objective representation without intimate involvement.

Performer Biography

Artur Pizarro, the pianist on this album, was introduced to the piano by his maternal grandmother and her piano-duo partner, who had been a student of Ricardo Viñes, a friend and colleague of Ravel.

Compositional Technique

Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, a set of 'three romantic poems of transcendental virtuosity', was so demanding that musicians at a 1920s performance questioned if all the right notes were being played in 'Scarbo'.

Composition History

Ravel's 'Apaches' were a group of like-minded friends and artists, including poets and composers, whose nickname was coined by pianist Ricardo Viñes, Ravel's friend and colleague.