Composer: Arnold Schönberg, Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Ravel
Performer: Francesco Piemontesi
Orchestra: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Conductor: Jonathan Nott
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pentatone
Catalogue: PTC5186949
Release: 2022
Size: 1.91 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83
01. I. Allegramente
02. II. Adagio assai
03. III. Presto
04. Messiaen: Oiseaux exotiques, I/41
Schönberg: Piano Concerto, Op. 42
05. I. Andante
06. II. Molto allegro
07. III. Adagio
08. IV. Giocoso. Moderato
What really pulls the crazy trio together – well, two and a half of them – is the opportunity for the classy Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi to be winningly propulsive, nimble and precise. The Ravel performance is especially dazzling, with gorgeously polished contributions from the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under the gifted European-based British conductor, Jonathan Nott.
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and its Music and Artistic Director Jonathan Nott continue their acclaimed series of 20th-century masterpieces, together with pianist Francesco Piemontesi, presenting piano concertos by Ravel and Schoenberg alongside Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques. Each of these composers redefined 20th-century music in a highly personal way, and the works recorded here share a connection to the United States which one would perhaps not expect right away from these European master composers. While Ravel and Schoenberg’s piano concertos provide the most original and colourful 20th-century contributions to this genre, Messiaen employs a similar scoring to express his profound reverence for nature in Oiseaux exotiques. These challenging and multifarious scores fit Piemontesi, Nott and the orchestra like a glove.