Jan Anton Brouwer wrote:

>...The playing of Ciccolini (normally not the most poetic pianist) is a
>feast for the ears.  His playing here is very poetic and retiring.

While I'm not one to defend Ciccolini's playing, I would like to revisit
something I've raised before on this List:  namely, his recording of
Ravel's Concerto in G, under Jean Martinon and the Orchestre de Paris
(EMI Angel LP S-37151).

Martinon may well be responsible for what Ciccolini does so well with
the Adagio assai -- the middle, longest movement of this Concerto.  In
any case, in their hands tension is slowly but steadily made to build in
this movement until peaking at mid-point, when it resolves into a gradual,
cascading denouement to the movement's end.  Zimerman's, Michelangeli's and
Francois' treatments all fail to contour this sublime middle movement with
such clarity.

Using the sparest instrumental means and musical devices, this middle
movement -- more so than the jazzy, colourful outer ones -- amply
illustrates why Ravel, who composed so very little, belongs with the
great composers.

This version of the concerto has yet to appear on CD.  Coupled with the
Left-Hand Concerto, it is the last of Martinon's brilliant five-LP cycle
of Ravel's orchestral music.  My hope is that some day its qualities will
be recognized, and it will be made widely available.

Bert Bailey, in Ottawa