Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Steven Osborne (piano) – review

Ravel's entire output was small, which makes his vital impact on 20th-century music all the more remarkable. Each piece is distinctive and original, yet unmistakably in his voice: playful, impassioned, translucent, cool and Gallic. The piano works can be contained on two CDs, with two major compositions, Gaspard de la nuit and Le tombeau de Couperin dominating, and here including an arrangement of his orchestral masterpiece, La valse. Apart from the "Pavane pour une infante défunte", the shorter pieces, some only lasting a minute or two, remain unfamiliar to non-Ravelians. Steven Osborne, ever a poised, technically impeccable virtuoso, combines clarity with heart. All a shimmering pleasure.