Last Sunday afternoon, 9/17, my wife and I attended a recital given by Ruth
Laredo at Kean College in Union, NJ.  This was the program:

    1.  Bach - Partita No. 5 in G major
    2.  Chopin - Etude Op. 25 No. 1 in A flat Major ("Aeolian Harp")
        Ballade No. 3 in A flat Op. 47
        Berceuse Op. 57
        Barcarolle Op. 60
    3.  Scriabin - Album Leaf Op. 45 No. 1 (1904), as a warm-up to,
        Sonata No. 10 Op. 70 (1912-13)
    4.  Barber - 3 Pieces from Souvenirs Opus 28
    5.  Ravel - La Valse

I had heard of the name and expected a good performance.  What I didn't
expect was an incredible performance.  I didn't know that Ms. Laredo was
going to give one of her "Concerts with Commentary," something she has done
for the past 12 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Having many gaps in my musical knowledge, this was especially welcome.

I learned that Chopin wrote the Berceuse after he and George Sand babysat
a little girl, for a friend of theirs, for some months at Sand's estate
Nohant.  Ms. Laredo told how captivated Chopin was with the toddler(?), it
being the first time he had been in the company a child.  Sand wrote in her
journal how Chopin and the little girl were happily conversing in Polish.
Being of Polish extraction and loving children, this fact was especially
heart-warming.  Performing the work after her presentation gave much more
meaning to it than I could have gotten on my own.

Ms. Laredo told how Scriabin was almost a messianic figure to his
followers.  She picked up the score of Sonata No. 10 and read his very
literary, mystical directions.  Her performance of the sonata was very
revealing.

The highlight of the concert, for me, was Ms. Laredo's performance of
La Valse.  She explained that, before World War I, Ravel had intended the
work as a tribute to Strauss.  Ravel had tried to enlist, but was rejected
because he was too short, 5' 1", the same height as Ms. Laredo.  Not to be
discouraged, Ravel served as an ambulance driver.  After the war, Ravel
decided to use the work to show a culture spinning more and more out of
control.  Ms. Laredo's performance of the work was fabulous!  She threw
herself into the piece, playing from memory, a feat that always amazes me.
My wife and I marvelled at how Ms. Laredo could even walk away from the
keyboard after such an electrifying performance.

The concert was an incredible opportunity to see a wonderful artist at
work.  I didn't regret missing watching my Giants play AGAIN (3-0, I am
stunned to report) nor watching the Olympics at all.  Truly a memorable
concert.  One regret I do has was that the audience wasn't bigger.
However, Ms. Laredo's commitment to her music is such that, I hope, it
didn't seem to affect her.

I hope I still have readers at this point.  The main reason for writing
this post is to ask if anyone can recommend a recording of La Valse for
piano.

If I have gotten any facts wrong or if the above seems trite and/or
simplistic, I apologize.  I wish I had half the musical vocabulary of
the majority of esteemed contributors to this list.

All the Best!

Ron Chaplin
Iselin, NJ, USA