What could be more gay and more French than Jean-Yves Thibaudet? Nuttin, thas what! And I'm going to see this incredible artist on Sunday at Symphony Center--tickets still remain! I first saw him perform on an Arts channel back in high school when he was releasing a disc of Bill Evans' music. The segment showed him refiguring "Waltz for Debby" into an unbelievable lullaby in the spirit of "reflets dans l'eau." It remains to this day one of my favorites. Even Tim Hardaway would swoon with rapture.
That man does a wicked good job with each Ravel piece he puts his hands on, and as a result, he's produced my favorite Ravel recordings.
Posted by: M. Keiser | Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 07:07 AM
One of the best performances I've seen. He's much taller than I imagined. He played some Chopin etudes, Liszt's Dante Sonata, Satie, Debussy Etudes, and Messian's "Watch of the Church of Love"--which is very 20th century and virtuosic. And of course scary.
This man's finesse playing is to be marveled, right alongside his thunder which he pulled out appropriately for the Liszt.
Posted by: bryant | Monday, February 19, 2007 at 12:29 AM
hey bryant, my wife and I just saw him perform with the DSO on January 21. He did two pieces: Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and Liszt's Totentanz (danse macabre). I had never heard the Ravel piece (even on CD), but I knew the background of how it was commissioned (it was even discussed by Charles Winchester III on a famous episode of MASH). And I have the Liszt on CD, so I knew what to expect on that. Anyway the performance was awesome, and yes even Timmy Hardaway would have swooned. :>
Posted by: loogey | Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 07:55 AM