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Which Ravel Piano Concerto Do You Prefer?

5.6K views 52 replies 27 participants last post by  fluteman  
#1 ·
Left Hand one for me. I like its one-movement nature, its great beginning and orchestral buildup in anticipation of the grand entrance of the piano, and of course, the fantastic cadenza. Which of the two do you prefer, the Concerto in G Major, or the Left Hand Concerto?

P.S. Sorry if there’s already a thread about this. :)
 
#5 ·
Love ‘em both, but I listen to the G major more so I guess that’s what I’ll choose. I do think the finale is a major letdown and that the work is just too short in general - but hey, Ravel was never one for long, drawn-out epics. I absolutely love that opening in the Left Hand concerto as order slowly rises out of primordial chaos.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Check this out: I played bassoon 1 for a concert last fall with the Ravel Concerto in G. I played the combined parts in the 3rd movement, because the 2nd wasn't up for it given the rehearsal time we had. Also on the program: Lili Boulanger, D'un matin de printemps. Not the Concerto, but numerous exposed and challenging parts. Also on the program: Debussy's La Mer. Great part, right? But get this. The program ended with this: Ravel, Bolero. No, I'm not kidding. I almost choked when I saw the program announcement the previous spring. Everything went fine, though.

ETA: forgot to mention, Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune was also on this program.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Concerto for the Left Hand. The slow, subterranean mutterings in the beginning that inexorably grow and rise toward the surface, then finally break through into a paean of fierce, almost manic assertion. This is the Ravel of La Valse, the Daybreak Music of Daphnis, the climax of Bolero--a different Ravel than the "Swiss watchmaker" of perhaps some other of his works. Plus I find there is not a false note, a wrong note, anywhere in the concerto.

I also dearly love the G-major concerto. Ravel was, for me, an amazingly successful composer.
 
#31 · (Edited)
While both are masterpieces and "must hears" for anyone even slightly interested in Ravel's music (and I have been a lot more than slightly interested for nearly my entire life), if I had to rank them (and I don't), I'd give the edge to the Concerto for the left hand, because it is so utterly unique and stands so far apart in conception and execution from anything else I know of in the standard piano repertoire.

Edit: I have to add that this concept of deciding which is better by determining which has the better bassoon part has a certain basic appeal.
 
#36 ·
While both are masterpieces and "must hears" for anyone even slightly interested in Ravel's music (and I have been a lot more than slightly interested for nearly my entire life), if I had to rank them (and I don't), I'd give the edge to the Concerto for the left hand, because it is so utterly unique and stands so far apart in conception and execution from anything else I know of in the standard piano repertoire.
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I actually admire them both. One "sentimental" factor the Left Hand concerto has going for it is that it was written for a pianist who had lost his right arm. So yes, it's highly unusual.
 
#37 ·
Though I likely have listened to the second movement of the Two-handed Concerto more often than I've listened to the Left-handed Concerto complete through, I've listened to the Left-handed Concerto straight through more often than I've listened to the Two-handed concerto from beginning to end. I don't know what that means, but I suspect that if you held a contrabassoon up to my hear and threatened to blow into it if I didn't make a choice, I'd go with the Left-handed Concerto.

I have always wondered what Ravel would have produced had he written a Right-handed Concerto to go with his Left-handed Concerto and his Two-handed Concerto.

In any case, I suppose that if I were a concert pianist, I would much prefer the Two-handed Concerto. It seems the kind of work one could practice while doing other important things, like: eating a sandwich, drinking a beer, writing a letter, painting … or maybe practicing a Right-handed Concerto at the same time!