Keep a sharp lookout for this 2005 CD from the Connoisseur Society, a particularly stylish and magically atmospheric recording of pieces for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, exquisitely rendered by pianist Cynthia Raim. Her playing is fluid and translucent, yet also meticulous and well-suited to Ravel's delicate textures and crystalline sonorities. Especially admirable and remarkable on this album is Raim's controlled delivery of the fiendishly difficult Gaspard de la Nuit, a test of any pianist's skills, not least the ability ...
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Keep a sharp lookout for this 2005 CD from the Connoisseur Society, a particularly stylish and magically atmospheric recording of pieces for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, exquisitely rendered by pianist Cynthia Raim. Her playing is fluid and translucent, yet also meticulous and well-suited to Ravel's delicate textures and crystalline sonorities. Especially admirable and remarkable on this album is Raim's controlled delivery of the fiendishly difficult Gaspard de la Nuit, a test of any pianist's skills, not least the ability to sustain an even, emotional flow connecting the vaporous Ondine, the hypnotic Le gibet, and the diabolical Scarbo, which Raim does with natural ease and smoothness. Yet her most elegant and enjoyable playing can be found in the lighter, neo-Classical pieces, the Sonatine and Le tombeau de Couperin, both perhaps more appropriate for this pianist's taste and temperament, if the graceful results are any indication. But if there is any single cause for complaint, it is the inclusion of...
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