Pogorelich plays Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit (Ondine - Le Gibet - Scarbo)

Gaspard de la nuit: Trois poèmes pour piano d’après Aloysius Bertrand (1908) I. Ondine [0:00] II. Le Gibet [7:36] III. Scarbo [14:28] A work for solo piano by French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), based on poetry by the French proto-Symbolist Aloysius Bertrand (1807-1841). The first movement “Ondine“ evokes the ethereal realm of the title water-fairy who lures hapless men into her magical lake. The second movement (“Le Gibet“) depicts a different vision: “It is a bell tinting at the walls of a city under the horizon and the carcass of a hanged man reddened by the setting sun.“ The third movement “Scarbo“ depicts a fiendish creature - perhaps a scarab beetle-like imp - scampering and twirling underneath the bed of the frightened observer. This movement is notorious for its incredible difficulty, since Ravel intended it to surpass Balakirev’s Islamey in technical terms.