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Sunday 19 September 2010

Ravel Piano Concerto, the Cadenza

So, as you are all probably aware by now, I am playing the Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand on Saturday 25th September, and today was the first time I managed to play it all the way through, as I would when performing it. :-D it feels like a big relief to actually play it from start to finish including the infamous cadenza.
For those of you who don't know what a cadenza is, here is the definition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadenza

For a month I have been struggling through this fiendishly difficult extended cadenza whice is at the end of the concerto, and finally today it sounds vaguely fluent and smooth. I have been watching and listening to many performances of the Ravel Concerto and I must say that I have fallen in love with Leon Fleisher' rendition, here is a video of him playing the cadenza:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0LBezQGLNo