Lortie Returns to SFP with All-Ravel Program

Pianist Louis Lortie (photograph by Elias Photography, courtesy of SFP)

Last night in Herbst Theatre, French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie returned to Herbst Theatre for his fifth recital hosted by San Francisco Performances (SFP). To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of French composer Maurice Ravel, he prepared an all-Ravel program. Overall, the program was a stimulating blend of the familiarly engaging with the finger-busting challenging.

The most challenging of those offerings was the collection of three “poems for piano” entitled Gaspard de la nuit. The title was taken from a collection of prose-poems by Aloysius Bertrand, three of which inspired the three movements of Ravel’s composition. Those familiar with the repertoire know that this is one of the most technically difficult works of the twentieth century, if not of the entire keyboard repertoire. Lortie could not have done a better job in rising to the tidal wave of challenges confronting him in quick pace, one after another. His physical demeanor was remarkably composed, probably a sign of just how intensely he was focused on making sure that this overwhelming flood of notes came across sounding like music.

The second half of the program also concluded with a demanding undertaking. The eight movements of the suite Valses nobles et sentimentales were followed immediately by the solo piano version of “La valse.” Ravel originally composed the latter for orchestra but subsequently arranged it for both solo and two pianos. He packed so much content into the score that the solo version is seldom performed. Nevertheless, Lortie delivered a solid command of the music’s plethora of complexities, bringing his entire program to a stunning conclusion.

Lortie began his Ravel journey with one of the most familiar of Ravel’s compositions, the “Pavane pour une infante défunte” (pavane for a dead princess). I have to confess that there were too many heavy-handed moments to engage my attention, leaving me a bit nervous as to how the rest of the program would proceed. Nevertheless, Lortie clearly “warmed up” with that opening selection; and the following “Sonatine” commanded my attention from beginning to end. While the overall textures were thick, Lortie played with a clarity through which the attentive listener could identify each of the polyphonic voices deployed for this relatively brief three-movement composition. That command of texture was equally engaging (and just as compelling) in the performance of “Jeux d’eau” (play of the water) immediately following the intermission.

The evening concluded with only one encore; and, because it was unannounced, I can only speculate if it was an offering of more Ravel, who composed several shorter pieces early in the twentieth century.