Maurice Ravel, while famous for his orchestral scores, and acknowledged as one of the great orchestrators also produced some of greatest piano works of the 20th century. Although he was no more than a fair pianist, his scores abound with very clear and precise instructions on how the work should be played – dynamics, tempi, phrasing and expression all must be clearly adhered to if the performer wishes to avoid coming to grief. These instructions brought him into conflict with some artists – including Toscanini, but most notably with his friend Ricardo Vines, who said that to play ‘Le Gibet’ from Gaspard de la Nuit as Ravel instructed would bore the audience to death. ‘I do not want to be interpreted, I want to be played’ was the uncompromising answer.

These 2CD contain his entire output for solo piano, from the early Serenade grotesque of 1892, through the masterpieces Gaspard de la Nuit, Valse nobles et sentimentales, and La Valse to his last piano work, Le tombeau de Couperin from 1917.

These 2CD contain his entire output for solo piano, from the early Serenade grotesque of 1892, through the masterpieces Gaspard de la Nuit, Valse nobles et sentimentales, and La Valse to his last piano work, Le tombeau de Couperin from 1917.