Maurice Ravel Piano Concerto for left hand
Just one hand – but with the illusion of two.
About the video
- Filmed 13 January 2022.
- The video is approximately 20 minutes.
The Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm during the First World War but was determined to continue his career. He therefore commissioned music for the left hand alone from several prominent composers. The most famous of these works was Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in D major, composed in 1930.
Ravel approached the limitation as both a musical and technical challenge. The piano part ranges across the entire keyboard, with melodies, chords and rapid runs creating the astonishing illusion that both hands are at work. At the same time, Ravel’s encounter with American jazz can be heard in the music’s rhythms and harmonies.
The concerto is played without a break, forming a continuous dramatic arc. The slow introduction emerges from the dark depths of the orchestra, before the music moves into a faster, more rhythmic section. Towards the end, the pianist launches into an extended solo cadenza, after which the orchestra returns to bring the concerto to a powerful and abrupt close.
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The music
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Maurice Ravel Concerto for left hand
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Participants
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Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
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Lionel Bringuier conductor
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Denis Kozhukhin piano
