Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Works (2CD)

Seong-Jin Cho is opening the Ravel Year 2025 with his most ambitious project to date for Deutsche Grammophon: the Korean star pianist is releasing three Ravel albums between January and April to mark the 150th anniversary of the French composer's birth. This first release comprises the complete works for solo piano in chronological order. In the summer of 2024, Cho faced the historic, 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 color. 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 colors, he was as if in the flow of the music, which allowed it to breathe full of lightness and warmth".