Wittgenstein plays Ravel's Piano concerto for the Left Hand (2)

[keybawd]

@dchiapello. I used to play the piece in my youth and your teacher is right. In fact there are very few places where the right hand could help - eg the jumps from base to chord at number 43 in the score. But then with two hands the sheer excitement and daring of that moment would evaporate. We do however have to thank Wittgenstein for commisioning a number of masterpieces.

[dchiapello]

I thought the cadenza sounded quite good in the central, lyrical section, but then it got bizarre and went completely off the rails. Wittgenstein throws in a couple of Ondine-esque arpeggios (starting at about 7:15). And something went terribly wrong at the closing bars.

[78Maniac]

C'est très intéressant d'entendre le commanditaire de cette oeuvre la jouer; pourtant Ravel n'aimait pas la façon dont Wittgenstein jouait ce Concerto. Ici c'est manifestement un 78 tours; quelle en est la référence (marque n° de catalogue)? D'autre part qui est la jeune femme assise à côté de Ravel au piano? Ne serait-ce pas Marguerite Long? Merci des réponses.

[pianopera]

@78Maniac The picture shows Ravel during a tour in North America in 1928. Sitting next to him at the piano is the Canadian Mezzo-soprano Éva Gauthier, standing on the far right is George Gershwin.

[sussexpenguin]

too fast for me, just a personal opinion.

[merapi06]

What an unbelievable great performance: so expressive and free and with sense for the deep sadness of this music.

[takkutakiainen]

I was honestly worried and pitttied him waiting how in the hell is he going to live through the cadenza. But it went decently. This performance is a very good lesson of what to fo if your skill is just not up to the task... how to live through it somehow without failing utterly. Pierre Boulez handled the cadenza very good in one recoding. This really doesn't display nearly all the music in cadenza, but you can't ask a guy to play something he can't.

[mountainharry]

Thanks to Wittgenstein(He had the money and thats the only reason I think) Ravel wrote this masterpiece but. What a bad performance.

It's realy terrible.

[juanmaMCMLXXXII]

Aju que estropicio...

[aznxk3vi17]

Glissandi... in the cadenza? Every story I've read about Mr. Wittgenstein has portrayed him as this grumpy, spoiled rich brat, and this recording confirms my suspicions.

[paulybarr]

@aznxk3vi17

[gisuona]

..at 4:20 the photo have Gershwin on the right?????

[TheAspenTom]

Yes, in March 1928 for Ravel's birthday, Eva Gauthier held a party. She's on the bench with him.

[MagicDonDino]

It's true!! There is Gershwin!!

[belledeballe]

le final gache un peu tout : les arpeges qui n'ont rien à faire là et les fausses notes qui s'enchainent

[allegroconmoto]

Wittgenstein technically is a wreck and his lecture of this masterpiece couldn't have any artistic aim. Walter is bombastic,lugubrious and sadist. I doubt that W was a better pianist before he was disabled.Thanks for this historically interesting recording.

[keybawd]

The performance is truly terrible. Wittgenstein destroys the music. The cadenza is grotesque. No wonder Ravel was angry. But it is an extraordinary historical document. Cortot had more respect for the score but Ravel was irritated that Cortot used two hands. The piece is perfectly written for the left hand - each finger with its proper weight - and is easier to play as written than if you start messing with it.

[dchiapello]

@keybawd You are right about using the left hand alone, without "assistance" from the right. I had a teacher who performed the work and said that using the right hand would be superfluous, not really alleviating much of the difficulty.

[haruyoi5]

素晴らしい

wonderful

[pianopera]

This is the pianist that infuriated Ravel when he heard him play his Concerto in Vienna, 1931, because Wittgenstein made some "arrangements" in the work.

I can hear that Ravel had a point - historically an important recording, but musically and pianistically overall quite poor, with a lot of alterations that don't do the work justice. The cadenza has some great moments though.

[PFWSprangers]

I don't fully agree with the so-called great moments in the cadenza, but it's really incredible that I can finally listen to this historical recording, thanks to YouTube and the original poster.

By the way: who is the conductor and what orchestra is playing?

[anaklasis]

Bruno Walter and the Concertgebouw. I'm glad you like it. I agree with pianopera, although sometimes sounds breathtakingly, showing an aggressive work.

If I have time, I'll post another completely different rendering by Jos Van Immerseel and his Anima Eterna orchestra. That interpretation was made through a "historically informed" point of view and a Erard piano of 1905.