Ravel/ Artur Pizarro - Complete Piano Works of Maurice Ravel

Renowned for his lyrical poeticism and outstanding virtuosity, pianist Artur Pizarro is the perfect choice to perform the complete piano music of the French impressionist Maurice Ravel. 'Phenomenal', 'scintillating' and 'super-refined' were just some of the superlatives used to describe Pizarro's performance. This challenging programme, including Gaspard de la nuit, well known for being one of the most demanding works in the piano literature, highlights Pizarro as a accomplished Ravel interpreter. Pavane pour une Infante défunte, one of Ravel's most popular pieces, is played beautifully in it's original piano version. The suite Le tombeau de Couperin pays homage to French music of the eighteenth century whose premiere elicited a warm and enthusiastic reception, a response which continues to this day. Valse nobles et sentimentales is highly stylised and harmonically complex, and is considered of seminal importance for Ravel's future writing. Ravel himself considered the Sonatine too advanced for his supreme pianistic skills; Pizarro's virtuosity is apparent in his notable performance. Pizarro perfectly captures the magic of Ravel's music with a critically acclaimed performance on this spectacular double disc. Artur Pizarro's prize-winning performance at the 1990 Leeds International Pianoforte Competition marked the beginning of an international concert career. Pizarro performs in recital, chamber music and with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. He has performed the complete solo works of Ravel in London, Lisbon and Århus.