Seong-Jin Cho, piano 

Sérénade grotesque 
Menuet antique     
Pavane pour une infante défunte     
Jeux d’eau     
Sonatine     
Miroirs     
Gaspard de la nuit     
Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn     
Valses nobles et sentimentales     
Prélude     
Á la manière de Borodine     
Á la manière de Chabrier     
Le tombeau de Couperin 

Seong-Jin Cho opens the Ravel Year 2025 together with Deutsche Grammophon in his most ambitious project to date: the Korean star pianist will release three Ravel albums between January and April to mark the French composer's 150th birthday.

This first release comprises the complete works for solo piano in chronological order. In the summer of 2024, Cho faced the celebrated, comprehensive work in the historic Siemens Villa in Berlin: “Ravel knew what he wanted, so I try to stick to his exact playing instructions. Miroirs, for example, is technically incredibly challenging. It is emotional and dramatic, full of fantasy and colour. It's almost impossible to follow every indication, but I do my best!” says Cho.

This seems to be working, as recent reviews suggest: After a recital in Madrid, Scherzo named Cho “perhaps the best Ravel interpreter of our time”, while The Scotsman stated after the performance at the Edinburgh Festival: “Cho played the Ravel part of the concerto with almost incomprehensible precision in contrasting and rich colours, he was as if in the flow of the music, which allowed it to breathe full of lightness and warmth.”

Having loved Ravel since childhood and, notably, having studied at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Seong-Jin Cho has chosen to mark the anniversary of his birth by recording not only the solo repertoire, but also the two concertos. He is joined in the latter by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, following acclaimed live performances with them as part of his ongoing focus on the French composer.