Maurice Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major

- Composer: Joseph-Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 -- 28 December 1937) - Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra - Conductor: Ettore Gracis - Soloist: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli - Year of recording: 1957 Piano Concerto in G major, written in 1929-1931. 00:00 - I. Allegramente 08:37 - II. Adagio assai 18:02 - III. Presto The piano was Ravel's favorite instrument, and of his two extraordinary concertos, the Piano Concerto in G major was, in his opinion, “more Ravelian.“ Indeed, the two works are profoundly different, but without being, as Vladimir Jankélévitch observed in his book about the composer, more (or less) Ravelian than the other. Nevertheless, Ravel's opinion should not be dismissed, for it reflects his personal predilection, and, as any listener can tell, the work literally overflows with exuberance, delight, and verve. The Concerto may have been conceived in 1928, the year Ravel received his honorary doctorate from the University