Maurice Ravel; Sergei Prokofiev; Benjamin Britten - Piano Concertos for the Left Hand (Leon Fleisher)

Information

Composer: Maurice Ravel; Sergei Prokofiev; Benjamin Britten

• (01) Ravel - Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand: Lento - Andante - Allegro - Tempo I
• (02-05) Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-flat major for the Left Hand, Op. 5
• (06-18) Britten - Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra, Op. 21

Leon Fleisher, piano
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, conductor

Date: 1990 (Ravel, Britten), 1991 (Prokofiev)
Label: Sony Classical

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Review

PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ****

Here’s a bright idea: putting together the three most successful works commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, the pianist who lost his right arm in the Great War. Ravel’s is the masterpiece (though Wittgenstein didn’t see it that way), and it has a strong, cohesive performance. Fleisher announces himself with steely tone, but continues with a broad, singing line that he maintains proudly in the second theme, where many pianists relax. The central and final build-ups are steady, relentless, and eventually cathartic. Prokofiev’s is a surprising case of neglect. Its understated, wry opening leaves unfinished business – explored in the middle movements, excised but not quite eliminated from the brief finale. Maybe the music is short of long-term dramatic contrast, but the playing is highly persuasive as it characterises the quick-changing episodes, and has left me with an appetite for the concerto that I didn’t have before. The Britten, Wittgenstein’s favourite, is weaker: a brittle sequence of attractive, clever variations, resourceful in piano writing, big on prowess, small in heart. But it’s worth a hearing, particularly in such company, supported alertly by the orchestra and given warm-toned, well-balanced sound. If you happen to have the other Ravel concerto on its own, say in Argerich’s or Michelangeli’s recordings, the disc is especially recommendable.

-- Robert Maycock, BBC Music Magazine

More reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Ravel-Concerto-Prokofiev-Britten-Diversions/dp/B0000027IR

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Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along with Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer. Among his works to enter the repertoire are pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concertos, ballet music, two operas, and eight song cycles. His best known works include Boléro (1928), Gaspard de la nuit (1908), Daphnis et Chloé (1912). Ravel was also an exceptionally skilled orchestrator.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ravel

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Sergei Prokofiev (23 April, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous genres, he was one of the major composers of the 20th century. Prokofiev wrote seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas, many of which are widely known and heard. He also enjoyed personal and artistic support from a new generation of Russian performers, notably Sviatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Prokofiev

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Benjamin Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces. Over the next 28 years, he wrote 14 more operas, establishing himself as one of the leading 20th-century composers in the genre. Britten's other works range from orchestral to choral, solo vocal, chamber and instrumental as well as film music. Britten was also a celebrated pianist and conductor, performing many of his own works in concert and on record.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Britten

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Leon Fleisher (born July 23, 1928 in San Francisco) is an American pianist and conductor. He was one of the few child prodigies to be accepted for study with Artur Schnabel and also studied with Maria Curcio. He is particularly well known for his interpretations of the piano concertos of Brahms and Beethoven, which he recorded with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. In 1964, Fleisher lost the use of his right hand, due to a condition that was eventually diagnosed as focal dystonia. He then started performing and recording the left-handed repertoire. Fleisher has continued to be involved in music, both conducting and teaching.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Fleisher

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