Yeol Eum Son, Residentie Orkest The Hague, Anja Bihlmaier - Ravel Concertos / Bach-Wittgenstein
(Naïve Records, 2025)
Descending the lofty heights of her complete readings of Mozart’s Complete Sonatas For Solo Keyboard (Naïve Records, 2023), Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son turns her considerable attention to piano music for the left hand only and its most notable composer, Maurice Ravel. Taking Ravel as her starting point, Son pulls an integrating thread through Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major (M. 82), Piano Concerto in G Major (M. 83), and four Bach transcriptions for the left hand composed by Paul Wittgenstein. Oh, and a surprise appearance of George Gershwin1 out of the blue.
There is a story here that helps with recording make sense. Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein (whose story2 is too fascinating and lengthy to be told here) lost his right arm during World War I. Determined to continue his professional life as a pianist, Wittgenstein commissioned a Piano Concerto for the Left Hand from French composer Maurice Ravel. Ravel composed his Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major (M. 82), Piano Concerto in G Major (M. 83) in 1929 and ‘30, with Wittgenstein premiering the piece with Robert Heger and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on 5 January 1932. Ravel composed his Piano Concerto in G Major (M. 83) concurrently with the left-hand concerto. Son combined these two concertos, rolling in four Bach transcriptions for the left hand arranged by Wittgenstein himself (the pianist arranged two other Bach pieces not included here: Violin Sonata in F minor: III and the Solo Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor: V, Chaconne).
Son’s performances of the piano concertos are exacting and punctilious. Her near clinical playing melds well with the late-Romantic flavor of Ravel’s compositions. Ravel composed the piano parts (even for the left hand) to be devilishly difficult, offering Wittgenstein no quarter for his disability. For all of Son’s careful consideration and studied method, she plays with robust commitment and attention to detail. The Bach pieces are interesting and fit well with the recital. This is a well-programmed recording with much attention devoted to detail. The Residentie Orkest The Hague, under the baton of Anja Bihlmaier, is animated and responsive. This is a fine recording from any direction.
The George Gershwin segue comes in when listening to the Piano Concerto in G Major, which, to these ears, quotes Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The two men had met and developed a mutual admiration for one another, so it is no surprise the two rubbed off on one another.
Chicago Tribune: Rediscovered score pianist’s last legacy. (2024). Archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20021207183432/http://www.chicagotribune.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=chi-0208110430aug11