French pianist Vincent Larderet inaugurates a definitive, four-volume series of the composer’s complete works for solo piano, signifying Vincent’s fulfillment of a decades-long devotion his compatriot.

This first-ever Urtext compilation of Ravel’s complete works for solo piano is a landmark collection that embraces numerous world-premiere renditions. Many works, whilst familiar, are prepared and recorded from personal scores that were annotated by pianist and pedagogue Vlado Perlemuter during his private study and close collaboration with the composer between 1927 and 1929.

These scores reveal invaluable insights to interpretation of such aspects as tempi, pedalling, phrasing and tonal colors. Through his tutelage under Perlemuter’s student Carlos Cebro, Vincent Larderet is a direct inheritor of Ravel’s ethos and interpretive style.

Volume 1 of Vincent’s Ravel survey includes original solo piano versions of the popular Valses nobles et sentimentales and Pavane pour une infante défunte, alongside the five-movement suite Miroirs and Sonatine.

Miroirs, M.43
1. I. Noctuelles
2. II. Oiseaux tristes
3. III. Une Barque sur l’océan
4. IV. Alborada del gracioso
5. V. La vallée des cloches

6. Jeux d’eau, M.30
Valses nobles et sentimentales, M.61
7. I. Modéré, très franc
8. II. Assez lent, avec une expression intense
9. III. Modéré
10. IV. Assez animé
11. V. Presque lent, dans un sentiment intime
12. VI. Vif
13. VII. Moins vif
14. VIII. Épilogue. Lent

Sonatine, M.40
15. I. Modéré
16. II. Mouvement de menuet
17. III. Animé

18. Pavane pour une Infante défunte, M.19

Recorded between April 25–27 2023 at Alter Sendesaal, Bremen, Germany, this recording opens on Miroirs, M.43: the sparkling Noctuelles, the delicate Oiseaux tristes, the veritably glistening Une Barque sur l’océan, the perky and playful Alborada del gracioso and then the dutiful gossamer sewn throughout La vallée des cloches, and then we get a memorable Jeux d’eau, M.30.

Along next is Valses nobles et sentimentales, M.61: the sterner fare of Modéré, très franc, the stoically sculpted Assez lent, avec une expression intense, the pleasing Modéré, the flourishing Assez animé, and then we get the comforting nature of melody within Presque lent, dans un sentiment intime, the lively Vif, the profound Moins vif and the warm embrace discovered within Épilogue. Lent.

This impeccably structured recording then closes on Sonatine, M.40, which opens on the beautifully ornate Modéré, the simply divine Mouvement de menuet, the free flowing Animé, before closing on the resonant Pavane pour une Infante défunte, M.19.

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