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Cover: Maurice Ravel – Gaspard de la nuit · Miroirs · Jeux d'eau

Maurice Ravel

Gaspard de la nuit

Miroirs · Jeux d'eau

Tzimon Barto, piano

ODE 1095-2 · CD · February 2007

Buy / listen

Track listing

9 tracks · 63:32

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Maurice Ravel

  1. Gaspard de la nuit
  2. 1 I. Ondine 7:36
  3. 2 II. Le Gibet 6:53
  4. 3 III. Scarbo 8:44
  5. Miroirs
  6. 4 I. Noctuelles 5:17
  7. 5 II. Oiseaux tristes 5:13
  8. 6 III. Une barque sur l'océan 8:32
  9. 7 IV. Alborada del gracioso 7:23
  10. 8 V. La Vallée des cloches 8:05
  11. 9 Jeux d'eau 5:49

About this recording

This CD features pianist Tzimon Barto with a selection of the great piano works by Maurice Ravel. Tzimon Barto is known for his refreshing approach to known repertoire, as well as his broad range of tonal colour, qualities tailor-made for the piano music of Ravel. Barto's musical maturity, superb technique, and endless colour palette have made him one of the most radiant and unique personalities in the music world.

This disc follows on the enthusiastic press and success of Tzimon Barto's début on Ondine - featuring keyboard pieces by Rameau (ODE 1067-2).

The booklet includes liner notes by Ravel expert Étienne Rousseau-Plotto (author of the biography: Ravel. Portraits basques, Anglet: Séguier 2004) who also contributed with rare photographs of Ravel and historic illustrations from his private collection.

Features

Booklet with liner notes in English, German and French

Press

Wow - what an amazingly fresh take on Ravel's piano music! (...) No matter whose previous recording of some of these works you may have in your collection, Barto's will in no way be a duplication!
John Sunier, Audiophile Audition, May 4, 2007

Rarely do you hear a rendition of Ravel's piano music which is so subtle and differentiated in terms of sound, so radically poetic and stunningly virtuoso at the same time.
Oswald Beaujean, Bayern 4 Klassik, April 21, 2007

Tzimon Barto is a pianist who (...) does not think of music as an ivory tower. That can be clearly heard on his new recording (...)- a journey between Being and Seeming, reality and veracity. That's how impressionism should sound like. Not lost in thought, but perspicacious.
Moritz Meinken, Crescendo, April/Mai 2007

Tzimon Barto's two albums (this included) show exactly how magic can happen - namely by penetrating the intellectual and superficial shell of the music and by catering to its individual requirements and demands.
Tobias Fischer, tokafi.com, April 2007, Album of the Month

Barto sweeps and flickers through the highly virtuoso vicissitudes (of Scarbo) as if in a state of conscious delirium. We experience a daring venture amidst the spirit world of the Pyrenees, a radically new approach to the often-played (...) piano hurdle. (...) In terms of finesse, transparency and acoustic fluidity, this reading (of Alborada del gracioso) which explores the very deepest nuances of the score, can hardly be surpassed.
Peter Cossé, klassik-heute.com, March 2007, 10 • 9 • 9

The artists

Tzimon Barto

Recognized as one of the foremost American pianists of his generation, Tzimon Barto has been giving exciting and highly acclaimed performances on both sides of the Atlantic. Born and raised in Florida, Tzimon Barto received his first piano lessons from his grandmother at the age of five, and later attended the Juilliard School of Music, studying piano with Adele Marcus. While at Juilliard he won the Gina Bachauer Competition two consecutive years in a row. Additionally, Tzimon Barto was a conducting fellow and coach for the American Opera Center. At the Tanglewood Institute, he received the "Most Outstanding Student Award", presented by Gunther Schuller for his achievements as a young conductor.

Full biography

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