Piano Concertos / Gaspard De La Nuit [Original recording remastered]

Maurice Ravel (Composer), Andre Cluytens (Conductor), Paris Conservatory Concert Society Orch (Orchestra), piano Samson Francois (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: piano Samson Francois
• Orchestra: Paris Conservatory Concert Society Orch
• Conductor: Andre Cluytens
• Composer: Maurice Ravel
• Audio CD (January 12, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00000GCA9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,389 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Precisely why Samson François is not better known in the United States (or known at all for that matter) is a mystery. On this CD he plays Ravel with absolute mastery, refusing to prettify any of the jazz rhythms in the G major concerto, and by so doing, bringing out all of its toughness. There may be impressionism in this music, but there's plenty more, too. François gives the Concerto for Left Hand a performance filled with passion and excitement; indeed it's just this side of abandon. His Gaspard is full of the colors Ravel imbued it with as well. André Cluytens is the ideal leader for this type of music, and while his orchestra here is hardly world class, it's very good. And the remastered sound is excellent. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best, yet original, August 3, 2000

By 

Mark McCue (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piano Concertos / Gaspard De La Nuit (Audio CD)

We don't hear of Francois too much--he's been dead quite awhile, so we only get the occasional reissue.

This was some of his best work. He had a shag about him in Ravel. He insisted on Cluytens and this superb orchestra for this recording, precisely because of the sensitivity to jazz elements it had developed...playing a lot of Milhaud I imagine.

No one here speaks about his unique bass line, so I will. It's the first thing you hear in the Left Hand. Rich. Powerful. No clatter. No tubbiness. No one knew quite how he did it, but it was a unique sound. This firm grounding keeps the snazziness of the other ranges well pinned down, as if these two concerti were really rather vertical. There's a masculine power here that no one else ever got, and this could be considered a characteristic of the pianist, probably more than any other element.

Another thing was his ultra-clean pedal technique and sense of blend. In the G major we hear time and again where Francois and Cluytens had to have gone over the harmonic overtones to get the effects they get. The only other pianist in these pieces to work with this element was Monique Haas and her maestro Paul Paray, but they approached it from her strong carillon highs on down. This kind of consideration opens up a whole new world of sound contained in Ravel. Going at it from below as Francois does would be somewhat easier to capture in recordings I imagine.

Francois' pedal is again evident in his solo work here, but I somewhat miss the greater degree of involvement he achieves in the concerti. This seems to have been true across his repertoire, Liszt among everything else, that he presented in his recitals.

Do get this Francois/Cluytens and put it on your shelf filed at the front with Haas/Paray. Listen often to both and recognize their considerable virtues as the prime interpretations of these works.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original, interesting, and breathtaking, February 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Piano Concertos / Gaspard De La Nuit (Audio CD)

I cannot really understand why Mr. Francois is not popular except for his country France and Japan. Before getting tired of too precise and awkward performances on Ravel's piano works, you should listen to his performance, which is extremely capitivating, magical, passionate, rhythmic, demonish, and sophisticated.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Recording, May 7, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Framingham, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piano Concertos / Gaspard De La Nuit (Audio CD)

I have listened to many different versions of the two Ravel Concertos. I had bought in France in the early 70s the LP with Cluytens and S. François. I have been looking for its reedition on CD for years. Finally it was remastered and came back. Beautiful, suave, truly French. I have conducted both concertos and I have performed them as a soloist. I can say that the performance in this recording is the best ever heard. A truly remarquable monument. This is a historical recording.

Patrick Botti, Artistic Director/Conductor New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra