Ravel: Miroirs (Lortie, Bavouzet)

Ravel is notoriously hard to interpret. Playing him requires virtuosity, but virtuosity worn so light it’s almost transparent - Ravel isn’t interested in difficultly qua difficulty, after all, only the sheer sound a piano can generate. If you take the difficulty too seriously - if you play with too much temperament, you lose the painstaking perfectionism and jewel-like classicism of Ravel. And if you play with too little personality, everything sounds pallid, washed-out, pale.
The two performances here of Miroirs - one of Ravel’s most important works - are rare and stunning successes. Lortie has a deliciously straightforward and earthy approach, full of verve and sensitivity perfectly on display in his performance of Alborada, with all those liquid glissandi shimmering like mercury, and the crystalline voicing in Une barque at moments such as [13:04]. Note also the uncanny accelerandi he uses in Noctuelles to perfectly imitate the dark, haphazard flitting about of night moths. Bavouzet’s impressionism is markedly different from Lortie’s but just as dazzling: with an infinitesimally fine sound on a 1901(!) Steinway D, he flawlessly recreates the terraced soundscape of Une barque and the touchingly subdued lament of Oiseaux. While Lortie presents a more consistently generous sound, Bavouzet happily stretches dynamic changes to incredible degrees of fineness - see the mystical pianissimo that begins at [37:03], for instance. His approach is less down-to-earth than Lortie’s, more perkily precise, and more consciously dwells of the music’s sense of the fantastic [see 38:08, or contrast the little cadenza at 3:50 + 31:05, or the rising alternate-hand passages at 4:17 + 31:38, or the differences in voicing at 15:45 + 43:36].
Lortie:
00:00 - Noctuelles (Night Moths)
04:31 - Oiseaux tristes (Sad Birds)
08:32 - Une barque sur l'océan (A Boat on the Ocean)
15:17 - Alborada del gracioso (Morning Song of the Jester)
21:55 - La vallée des cloches (The Valley of Bells)
Bavouzet:
27:09 - Noctuelles (Night Moths)
31:50 - Oiseaux tristes (Sad Birds)
35:45 - Une barque sur l'océan (A Boat on the Ocean)
43:07 - Alborada del gracioso (Morning Song of the Jester)
49:44 - La vallée des cloches (The Valley of Bells)

[@angelob.1089]

You know you're massively screwed when these impressionists write pp.

[@evslol1153]

fr, and that pppp at the end of une barque....

[@kirklurkpu4470]

it's hard to execute, because pressing the key itself needs to sacrifice some volume to able to produce a ringing sound. Very pp

[@alejandrom.4680]

@@reidmartin6209 Nah fam, he didn't. But yeah, complicated to interpret.

[@everythingtheone6110]

@@reidmartin6209 u wanna see some crazy dynamic markings? go check out de la nuit by sciarrino or somink its nuts

[@vadim4252]

@@everythingtheone6110 Morton Feldman has probably the most stupid dynamics.

[@Ivan_1791]

Everytime I listen to Ravel I notice more and more how complex hidden harmonies are.

[@nicolajpiemonte8907]

I'm always amazed at how he utilises little elements each time and make sound them so unique from each other, and how he develops them, Ravel was a genius of form, harmony and writing.

[@nicb4589]

Nicolaj Piemonte An extraordinary amount of craft goes into each phrase in his music. In other words, he was a little short of being plain OCD. Out of the popular great composers, Beethoven was probably the last person before Ravel to craft music so meticulously...

[@nicolajpiemonte8907]

@@nicb4589 You are right! He defined himself like a Swedish Clock! Precise and perfecr to work properly. This meticolous working, and his great fantasy, really made him one of the greatest voices of Music history.

[@reizencraezua6454]

What element/s he used?

[@pleasecontactme4274]

atonal composers...

[@HedrixGaming]

I love it when ads play in the middle of a performance.

[@delko000]

AdBlocks

[@n2g747]

Use uBlock Origin bro

[@Andriale]

nobulle you can’t use adblocks on mobile and sorry if you guys are all pc master race but sometimes (most of the time) it’s just more convenient to play music on your phone than a massive desktop

[@delko000]

@@Andriale i know, i downloaded something equivalent on mobile but it never worked quite as well

[@ronan34terry34]

Guys: Brave browser

[@aldoringo439]

the barque sur l'océan is probably one the most beautiful things I've ever heard. It's horrible to think that one day you'll never be able to hear it again.

[@nealgold4927]

Oh but you will. It will remain in your soul forever.

[@Wuozlinga]

Yes barque and ondine are two of my favorite Ravel pieces as well, along with Prelude from tombue de couperin (French is hard). Recently I learned to love Noctuelles from this here, such wild and vivid imagery.

[@steveegallo3384]

@aldoringo439 --- True....”They are not long, the weeping and the LAUGHTER, Love Desire HATE; I think they have no portion in us AFTER we reach The GATE; they are not long, the days of wine and ROSES; out of a misty dream our path emerges for a while, and then CLOSES....within a dream...." Cheers from Acapulco!

[@oceancheung6139]

Ravel was a genius😭

[@darrylschultz6479]

😝 or 🥳 when Genius.😭 if moron.

[@dickjoe]

still is

[@darrylschultz6479]

@@dickjoe Yes, but these days it's just underground music from the Rav-that only his fellow corpses get to enjoy!

[@segmentsAndCurves]

@@darrylschultz6479 Nah, that's stupid.

[@darrylschultz6479]

@@segmentsAndCurves Okay, Ravel "still is"(a genius). Can't wait for his next major work to appear out of the ground in the not-too-distant future.🤟😂"Was" was correct.

[@BlindObedienceBrutal]

I cannot decide what is more astonishing: that anyone could have written this piece or that anyone could have played it. It really borders on the supernatural.

[@ronwalker4849]

One of the BEST recordings of anything I have ever heard. Aftter attending 3 music accademies of great note, this pianist playing Ravel is sublime, supurb. It has been an experience worthy of all spiritual and artistic merit. I first heard it when I was about 70 years old, and it is still growing on me. It is almost like a religious devotion to beauty and spirituality. Even in our old age, we can find joys, and this has been one of the best. rw

[@samwst56]

Yew ain't old till yer cold, Ron.

[@asourpo1yphony]

I first heard this piece when my family visited me in the nursing home for my 92nd birthday and showed me my grandson's beautiful performance of it for his music college. Merci!

[@asourpo1yphony]

🙃

[@annulrsolformrkelse4023]

Which recording do you mean?

[@leesiheon8013]

Which one?

[@StephenGottPianist]

These pieces are so hauntingly poetic. Not given an outing as often as Gaspard but still as technically difficult non the less. Both pianists interpret the work magnificently.

[@alexs1504]

Ravel is pure poetry, a mix of Edgar Allan Poe and Mallarmé

[@btceth4714]

I love Ravel. Very difficult to play I must say, BUT once you get the hang of how he wrote-- wasn't too bad.... very unique composer. He wrote "water" in music form. A total badass. I would have loved to hear him play in person...

[@christianvennemann9008]

37:02 Absolutely ethereal. I don't think I've ever heard the beginning of this section played with such soft, delicate, masterfully drawn-out fingerwork. And the 1901 piano makes it sound even better!

[@chrisy367]

Agreed!!

[@npelletier89]

Trying to work on a physics lab... it's 5:45AM... instead I'm bouncing my shoulders up and down to the rhythm in Alborada :S.... yikes.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

Just a reminder for your memory.

[@npelletier89]

@@segmentsAndCurves wow haha this made my day :D

[@nathannguyen2041]

That was me freshmen year of college... Doing physics 1 lab the night/morning before it was due 😅

[@sosoyo180]

You have been on a roll with these uploads the last month, keep it up!! (Also Une barque sur l'océan is one of my all time favorite pieces so thanks!!)

[@dayounglee_pf]

00:00 04:31 08:32 15:17 21:55

[@urzathehappy72]

Glad u included the 00:00

[@androidkenobi]

That is quite the video description. Regretfully, much of which is over my head -- you know that kid who starts playing as soon as he sits down, and once the last note is played gets up and walks away? That was me, and now here I am ~20 yrs later still wondering what "interpretation" means when all the notes, tempo, and crescendos are on paper... I'll definitely be returning over and over hoping I absorb something :)

[@waysmeans3774]

Love your description of that kind of playing. Relatable. I know exactly what you mean.

[@abelcisneros7531]

thats usually how liner notes are on any album, but with digital music we have lost all the liner notes to stuff, so you are right it is good to have , go to music school and you will get it easily

[@tuberobotto]

Wonderful Ravel music played so exquisitely. Both versions, both pianists gave very tasteful renditions. Such a wonderful upload. Thank you.

[@coulton-davisjazz2872]

Ravel is an inspiration to us lowly jazz pianists. Thanks for helping me learn about this amazing piece and brilliant performances.

[@MrCinemuso]

Nothing lowly about a pianist who can improvise well, play with great time with/against other players, while drawing on a harmonic language that includes Ravel!

[@nohaylamujer]

Ravel was very fond of jazz!

[@coulton-davisjazz2872]

@@MrCinemuso Absolutely. Ravel's harmonic ideas are a rich vein to mine. I hear him in Herbie Hancock's best piano improvisations, going back to when he was with Miles, who also loved Ravel.

[@MrCinemuso]

@@coulton-davisjazz2872 Bill Evans too - Ravel had a big impact on him which you can hear.

[@coulton-davisjazz2872]

@@MrCinemuso Yes, and Evans influenced everyone.

[@lucasa4301]

An amazing, underrated piece. Ravel often gets accused of adopting other composer's styles and ideas. Obviously there's some influence from Debussy and Liszt, but this is one of his most original works when you consider that Debussy had only written "Pour le Piano", "Estampes" and Book I of "Images" (from the same year, 1906). Ravel goes above and beyond in his effects for the piano, with an intricacy and imagination that Debussy wouldn't achieve for another 6-7 years in his Preludes and Etudes.

[@PaulVinonaama]

L'isle joyeuse also (1904, I think).

[@lucasa4301]

True, I wasn't considering the smaller pieces. Even in that though there's a certain amount of repetition and procedural layering at the expense of a more colorful sound. Ravel frees things up here.

[@johannsebastianbach3411]

Actually, It was Debussy who often got accused of "adopting" other composer's ideas. When the Sites Auriculaires was being performed, Debussy was the one to "borrow" the manuscripts from Ravel and then used some ideas in the Estampes...

[@lucasa4301]

I guess it's trite by now, but I feel like this falls categorically in the 'good composers borrow, great composers steal' mantra. Debussy's music is basically a collection of other people's ideas - non-Western scales and modes mixed with harmonies taken from Faure and Wagner. But Debussy worked through these stolen items to develop a highly personal idiom, while Ravel was adopting new styles to the end of his life. Coming in a long chain of solo piano works, Miroirs feels like a rare instance of Ravel working through his influences and shedding the more superficial attraction of pieces like La Valse, Bolero, Violin Sonata, String Quartet, etc.

[@organfreak]

To me there is nothing "superficial" about the String Quartet. Don't forget, during the controversy about it, Debussy wrote to Ravel, "Don't change a single note of your wonderful quartet."

[@noiselesspatient]

Sublime. And wonderful to compare/contrast both astounding performances. Thank you.

[@migbers3247]

Great channel with great videos and descriptions. The inclusion of two interprations is an amazing resource! Thank you very much for the videos! Keep it up !! from Scotland ! :)

[@davekenney1874]

Amazing composition, he just knew how to get the colors and effects from the piano. Kudos to the performer

[@Bilal-lo1rk]

15:30 that heat came outta nowhere

[@milgaru]

literally everyone loves that part (including me, of course)

[@avocatdenis]

I really like your review of these two astounding interpretations. Very informative.

[@Lalala-wb5dm]

I love reading your explanations! I've never heard of both pianists, but now that I listen they seem much more subtle and thoughtful with every move they make than Dinu Lippati's(though I love his the most!).

[@mrbrianmccarthy]

Simply marvelous music. Ravel and debussy are two of my favorites. i always find beauty and new things to hear in their music. Both of these pianists did a nice job on these pieces as well.

[@OfficialWorldChampion]

GOAT-level keyboard composer, who isn’t recognized as such (along with William Byrd). Yes I will die on that hill.

[@WildJag4free]

hum, no Ravel is knowned as one of the best piano composer ever, I don't know where you live, but definetly not near a music academy

[@albertpeckham8708]

Such a stunning performance! Merci Mille fois!

[@kjbosma]

I love your description! Nice, now listening ;)

[@orvillewrightjr.6119]

Orville Wright, Jr. I've always thought that Ravel's piano music has an etherial, almost shimmering quality. I always struggled mightily to evoke these qualities, when I've performed the pieces in "Miroirs";however my time and patience was always vastly rewarded, when I figured out certain nuances and idiomatic expressions in Ravel's piano works in general. The game has always been worth the candle. Thank you for this incredible post.

[@NewEnglandFish]

deadass printed out 3 and 4 because I wanted to learn both, now I want to learn 5 so I'm buying the music for the whole set

[@Xyriak]

The evocations that Ravel pulls off with these pieces are outstanding.

[@alanblackwood1]

More superb Ravel, and the commentary says it all perfectly.

[@robbes7rh]

Superb performance. Piano mastery at its finest. Hard to imagine a better interpretation. An absolute delight to hear. Bravo!

[@benrubin8624]

thank you for this post! great piece

[@ormpi1]

I love ravels love of Spanish music. Its so pure and unique

[@elrichardo1337]

just like his gaspard de la nuit, ravel's sheer precision of composition is on full display here

[@giuseppemasini9023]

I discovered Miroirs only today thanks to my piano teacher, they are something out of this world, absolutely fantastic works. I absolutely have to listen to valses nobles at sentimentales, I really don't look forward to falling in love with them!

[@handredss2543]

Welcome.

[@stynway59]

Lucky you!

[@pelodelperro]

Wonderful renditions. Thanks!

[@alexisdanielvaneskeheian2127]

Obra maestra total, monumental. Muchas gracias por compartir. Saludos desde Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[@sfopera]

Fabulous music that is brilliantly played. I hope that someone other than me remembers the wonderful 1970s era PBS show "Lilias, Yoga, and You" that used the fifth movement of this, La Vallee des Cloches, as its theme. Magical!

[@nwalton125]

This is great, agree with your comments about playing Ravel. Would love to see you upload some Debussy.

[@steveegallo3384]

The pure atmospheric fastness envelopes....mesmerizing......BRAVO from Acapulco!

[@aldoringo439]

Ravel was an extremely unique composer, because you can hear in his music the horrors that we know he endured in his lifetime. The horrors of war, losing family, and probably much more. The barque sur l'ocèan is a good example of Ravel's hyper emotional writing. But there are many emotions in ravel's much that is often just attributed to "dissonance" or "impressionism", such as anger, grief, hardship, etc.

[@underthesine]

Your description of Ravel in the opening statement is perfectly stated. That captures the essence. I'm going with Lortie on this one. The better recording sound makes for some small bias, but the way that it is played feels more majestic and fantastical. Subtle dynamics, flow and delicate timing makes it a winner.

[@ferrantepallas]

Brilliant and beautiful

[@jonathaneffemey4892]

Thanks so much for posting.

[@harryandruschak2843]

Juneteenth 2016. Found your channel more or less by accident, and this was the work. Good enough for me to happily subscribe.

[@brendonhester331]

Juneteenth 2020. Hope you are well, 4 years later.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

I mean "there is no accident". Be open, 5 years later.

[@adelinetom4662]

This is the only recording of Noctuelles I've enjoyed.

[@elijahvalongo9528]

That can't be

[@nealgold4927]

Absolutely magnificent

[@BeauJames59]

Thank you. Gorgeous midnight listening for me...

[@munnejael2982]

great recording, thanks

[@viktor1845]

Very love Bavouzet, he's an excellent pianist

[@cardboardhero2294]

Noctuelles and Alborada del Gracioso are eternal masterpieces.

[@tobiaslim4709]

The other works should not be overlooked too

[@MegaCirse]

Mon pianiste favori avec Satie. J'aime toutes sortes de musique, mais rarement quelqu’un n’a atteint une telle sensibilité sur les touches d’un piano. En marchant dans les rues de New York dans les années 1980, j'ai senti son esprit, sa présence. C'était intense, puis, fugitivement, il est parti.....

[@tjulers]

7:14 that is mythical

[@darioduartenunez]

I agree!

[@robertcohn8858]

A delightful candy box of music. It's incredible to see the notes on the page transformed into such ethereal sound...

[@pianodan1608]

0:56 to 1:03; 9:59 to 10:34; 15:31 to 15:46; 16:34 to 16:49; 19:49 to 19:59; 20:40 to 20:56. This is what makes Ravel a genius!

[@Anonymous-re9fd]

6:40 tho

[@annamariamanfredi6624]

Stupenda. Grazie

[@user-pp2is9jk6i]

Exalted pleasure!

[@user-gr9sb9mc1p]

My favorite is Mirror 3 , Une Barque sur l'ocean

[@jenesaispas5082]

Call Me By Your Name

[@dke-ie5dp]

Me too haha Can you play no.3?

[@chickenblade6537]

@@dke-ie5dp i cant. Prolly in like 15 years

[@PrestissimoMasterStation]

It's Otocadoll!

[@raindual]

김용석 very beautiful

[@robertadeangelis9948]

inarrivabile !!!!!

[@Forgetit2697]

My favourite work from Ravel is Oiseaux tristes, Bavouzet's interpretation is very captivating and hypnotizing, probably the best I have ever heard.

[@biggreenlzrd]

Noctuelles is a brilliant and beautiful piece, but such a finger-buster to play. Sometimes I wish there was a shortcut I could take to develop the same touch these pianists make sound so easy.

[@Scriabinfan593]

Ravel and Debussy are just my absolute favs

[@samwst56]

Thanks for the narration & the music, Ashish! CHEERS!

[@vincentandrewsmusic]

Perhaps not the best video to put on during writing a paper because the score is distracting me so much! It's so beautiful. This work is astonishing.

[@ronwalker4849]

SAD BIRD, FOR SOME YEARS I DIDN´T UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE IN THIS PIECE, AND NOW I IT IS ONE OF THE MOST EMBLEMATIC COMPOSITION FOR MODERN ART. IT IS ABSTRACT COMMUNICATION BY THE GENIUS RAVEL. HE DIDN´T HAVE AN EASY LIFE ENDING WITH DIFFICULTY, LIKE MANY GEATES (CHOPIN, MOZART,SCHUBERT ETC..

[@donnytello1544]

Dude you don’t need to scream to get your point across, but yes he is genius, and it’s amazing to understand it

[@segmentsAndCurves]

​@@donnytello1544 I mean sometime keyboard just doesn't work the way they should be. But even if this was intentional, I would scream on my friend's face about how good Ravel is (if I don't lose any friend in the process ;)

[@donnytello1544]

@@segmentsAndCurves that’s true I didn’t consider that, it’s happened to me before

[@segmentsAndCurves]

@@donnytello1544 "it’s happened to me before" I'm listening.

[@donnytello1544]

@@segmentsAndCurves oh nothing crazy my keyboard just gets stuck on caps sometimes and I’ll forget to take it off so I have to delete the sentence

[@benmeitzen4184]

Touching and dark. These interpretations aught to have more recognition.

[@POMAHOC]

8:33 это, наверное, одно из лучших исполнений "Лодке в океане" из всех, которые я вообще когда-либо слышал.

[@shereegray7085]

I used to find it almost unbearable to listening to my relaxing peaceful music so I pay to not have any ads at all, so worth the money to not have to hear the annoying ads pop up and disrupt my peace.

[@user-sw5pw3cs4w]

Get adblocker, its free

[@user-vq8pt2nj6i]

ラヴェルすこ💛

[@qwj68boots]

I'm going to learn French so I will know the translation for these wondrous titles by my Great Ravel. C'est Magnifique!❤

[@eriknestaas2270]

the time signature on barque sur l'océan

[@noahgilbertson7530]

Louis Lortie was made to play Ravel. I’d kill for his talent 😵

[@kronos2227]

You should also listen to his Sonata in B-minor by Franz Liszt---out of this world--musically and technically.

[@Ar1osssa]

It's not a talent. It's thousands hours of professional work

[@noahgilbertson7530]

@@Ar1osssa I’d kill to have that dedication 😭

[@Ar1osssa]

Everything is in your decision

[@dncrystal]

The ending of Oiseaux (especially Lortie's version) gives rise to feeling inside I have yet to encounter with any other piece of music

[@MusicalRadiation]

That key change in Une Barque Sur L'océan at 11:13 is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard

[@NGLiok]

Lush, dreamy and evocative.

[@lflagr]

Your description of interpreting Ravel is the most spot-on assessment I've ever come across. You should seriously write a book on interpretation and repertoire.

[@jeffwatkins352]

These are two mighty performances of amazing piano works which rank at the top of everything written for the instrument, and I bow in awe to these two brilliant performers. However...though a rank amateur who can't begin to approach their virtuosity in the suite's first movements, I humbly if egotistically submit my poor amateur skills surpass both these masters in its climax, La Vallee des Cloches. Both take the movement almost by rote with none of the passionate heart-rending rubato it demands. It's a pieces of unsurpassed hypnotic transcendence and both these interpreters approach it as an afterthought rather than as the soul-bending culmination of this virtuoso work. But that's just me. So sue me.

[@mini1939]

This was posted on my birthday 4 years ago :3

[@makeyourownpie]

happy birthday

[@matershinina19]

Мне хочется бесконечно это слушать😭

[@gearyg5649]

This the music I show my friends who aren’t trained classically. Because they can hear the moths fluttering or picture the waves around the boat on the ocean. You don’t need to have a knowledge of music to appreciate such an intricate wonder

[@OutOfWards]

How tf did Ravel compose this?!?!?!?? It's incredible!!!!!!

[@williamhicks2299]

Lortie! The perfect pianist for Ravel. Sublime playing.

[@jeffdawson2786]

Absolutely spellbinding. And to think Satie said, alas Ravel’s music leaves me cold. He had to be joking.

[@fgbowen]

I realize that you may have this video monetized, but it's likely that yt is taking advantages, because there was literally way too many commercials on this video. Couldn't actually get a good listen in before there was another C. So - yeah. Thoroughly agreed with all you said in the description.

[@limesquared]

Lovely...From the comments here I should definitely try to hear more interpretations...I love the modern feeling instead ol old classical for right now at least...

[@FeiyaLi-wy2sv]

I love mirroirs❤

[@BenTrem42]

*_Ineffable_* ... we have only the most crude objective metrics. Ravel was ... brilliant genius.

[@borbalbuddy]

That single E♭ held at 7:50 is among the most moving and depressing moments in music composed for the piano.

[@nakanoyuko]

how come

[@georgeewells]

Fun fact: All of Ravel's pianos have one key that is worn and terribly out of tune. Guess which one. 16:30

[@user-us4wv3uh1l]

and d# from scarbo

[@meredith218461]

These are wonderfully descriptive compositions on a par with other works such as the Piano Trio, Daphnis et Chloe, only to mention two examples. Ravel not only demands great interpretive insight but also superlative technical mastery to allow the music to speak unhindered. Both of these fine virtuosi give highly rewarding accounts, if I have to cherry pick I slightly prefer Lortie in Une barque sur l'Ocean and Osieaux tristes. However with playing of this calibre my preference is purely subjective.

[@purplewizard]

Perfectio

[@ellenrosenblatt5463]

genius squared

[@skimask7776]

What wonderful sounds. What would Chopin's music sound like had he lived long enough to discover these whole tones. Maybe i'm wrong, maybe he did discover them.

[@LuisKolodin]

the clarity of Fazioli is at the cost of the extreme rapid decay of the sound envelope. so Oiseaux Tristes does not work in this piano, and must be played very fast for the piece not to die.

[@katt_matt]

Ravel is very special composer

[@jorgefraile218]

That time signature... 8:39

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

I really wished he had orchestrated more of those pieces and not just two. The Grainger version of La valleé des cloches is breathtaking.

[@dennischiapello7243]

Ravel was a master orchestrator, of course, and his orchestral versions of Alborada and Barque are successes. But I almost always prefer his piano originals. There's something especially about Une Barque sur l'ocean that can't be bettered.

[@rogerknox9147]

@@dennischiapello7243 Colin Matthews orchestrated Oiseaux tristes, 2016

[@NoahJohnson1810]

31:50 this note is so delicious. I can almost taste it.

[@user-ep8ss5gj3u]

Don't eat B too much, they're quite sweet.

[@yeetdoy3066]

Ravel was a magician

[@giannuesca6783]

10:10 is it me or Ravel just made an awesome sound of an approaching wave? Hahahahaha Ravel is my bae