<\/p>\n
A darker Ravel from H\u00e5kon Austb\u00f8<\/p>\n
H\u00e5kon Austb\u00f8 has a special place in the French repertoire, with his complete recordings of Messiaen and Debussy as references in the catalogue. Celebrating his 70th birthday this autumn Austb\u00f8 releases the complete works for solo piano of another towering French composer \u2013 Maurice Ravel. And his readings reveal the darker side of Ravel\u2019s music.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more one penetrates into the complex and mysterious universe of Ravel as revealed to us through his music, the more one is left with riddles never to be solved. I must confess, having played his music all my life, that there are aspects about him still puzzling me,\u201d says Austb\u00f8 \u2013 who also contributes with an enlightening personal note for this release.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
H\u00e5kon Austb\u00f8 has a special place in the French repertoire, with his complete recordings of Messiaen and Debussy as references in the catalogue. Celebrating his 70th birthday this autumn Austb\u00f8 releases the complete works for solo piano of another towering French composer \u2013 Maurice Ravel. And his readings reveal the darker side of Ravel\u2019s music.<\/p>\n
In 1906 Ravel wrote to the critic Pierre Lalo pointing out that various features of his work could claim priority over Debussy in the \u2018special manner of writing for the piano\u2019. \u2018Jeux d\u2019eau\u2019, he insisted, \u2018stands at the beginning of all the pianistic innovations that have been noted in my work. Inspired by the sound of water and the musical sounds emanating from fountains, waterfalls and brooks\u2026\u2019 Austb\u00f8 himself states: \u201cRavel\u2019s piano writing is as subtle and colourful as his orchestra writing. He used to say that the pedal was the \u201corchestrator\u201d of the piano; indeed his use of resonance evoking bells or water is unthinkable without ample use of pedal.\u201d For this recording H\u00e5kon Austb\u00f8 performes on a Steinway Mod. D-274 from 1893.<\/p>\n
Ravel\u2019s music is sometimes perceived as cool and perfect. Austb\u00f8 reads it differently: \u201cRavel probably did conceal some of his darkest sides behind a brilliant technical mastery. \u201dMy goal is technical perfection\u201d, he stated, well aware that this would never be achieved. Still, many of his pieces put the dark corners of his world on display, as in the haunting Scarbo, or behind a mask as the tragic gracioso in Alborada. It is one of the few pieces where Ravel unveils himself to us, and the cataclysmic ending is not a nice sight: the buffoon\u2019s world falls to pieces. In a way, we are all this buffoon: who hasn\u2019t experienced this existential fear?\u201d<\/p>\n
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