Ravel: Complete Piano Works

Description

The year 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). Piano Classics is proud to issue a new recording of his complete piano works, played by the dazzling young Greek pianist Konstantinos Destounis. Ravel's piano music includes works of striking virtuosity, poetic delicacy, and rhythmic complexity. Jeux d'eau (1901) introduced shimmering water-like effects, influencing later Impressionist composers. His Miroirs (1904-1905), a five-piece suite, features the evocative Une barque sur l'ocean and the mesmerizing Alborada del gracioso, blending Spanish rhythms with intricate textures. Gaspard de la nuit (1908), one of the most technically demanding piano works, includes the infamous Scarbo, a nightmarish, virtuosic tone poem. Ravel also embraced neoclassicism, as seen in Le Tombeau de Couperin (1914-1917), a Baroque-style suite dedicated to World War I soldiers. His Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911) pays homage to Schubert while infusing modern harmonies. Other notable works include Pavane pour une infante defunte and Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn. Konstantinos Destounis was born in 1991 in Athens, Greece. By winning several international competitions he quickly builds his career, playing in important venues around the world. His pianism is of the highest order, a virtuosity which doesn't want to impress for its own sake. He possesses a keen sense for the subtle harmonics, colours and atmospheres of these works of genius. He plays each work organically, bringing out the inner logic, power and beauty, eschewing all extravagance or exhibitionism (Ravel himself wanted his works "to be played, not interpreted").