L'Oeuvre Pour Piano Seul / Complete Works For Solo Piano
There used to be an entry in theGuinness Book of World Recordsto the effect that Ravel wrote the least amount of music of any great composer. And if you look at the orchestrations that he made of piano originals, then the amount of music becomes smaller still. Many of his most popular works, including the ubiquitousPavane for a Dead Princess, theValses Nobles et Sentimentales,Alborada del Gracioso,Le Tombeau de Couperin,Mother Goose, andUne Barque sur l'Oceanexist in both orchestral an piano versions, but there's still a good bit of original piano music, including the lovelySonatineand most importantly,Gaspard de la Nuit. Thibaudet has played all of this music since he started teething: he knows it and loves it, and it shows.--David Hurwitz