Yeol Eum Son plays Ravel, Emilia Hoving conducts Sibelius 6

Maurice Ravel - Piano Concerto in G, Jean Sibelius - Sixth Symphony. Programme Maurice Ravel Piano Concerto in G Jean Sibelius Sixth Symphony The Frenchman Ravel blended Spanish music from his youth with American jazz. In the hands of Korean star pianist Yeol Eum Son, that becomes worldly in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G. Sibelius' Sixth refreshes like cool spring water, as the composer himself said. Young Finnish conductor Emilia Hoving leads the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest this morning. Yeol Eum Son plays Ravel Frenchman Maurice Ravel processed the impressions he gained during a tour through America in 1928 in his Piano Concerto in G. After an energetic flourish, Ravel combines the Spanish music from his youth (his mother was Basque) with American jazz. It is music that not only tickles the ears, but sets the whole body in motion. The second movement is of a completely different order: dreamy and serene. The long, sometimes painfully beautiful melody of the piano (later in the orchestra, with highlights in the flute and the cor anglais), seems to emerge above the waltz accompaniment of the left hand on the spot. The final movement is even more energetic than the opening and adds an extra layer in terms of virtuosity. The jazz influences are abundant, the rhythm is propulsive, the harmonies are tingling. In the hands of Korean star pianist Yeol Eum Son, that becomes worldly. Sibelius 6 The music of Jean Sibelius is like Finnish nature: impressive, capricious, beautiful, but sometimes also desolate, icy and dark. Between all elements is a strong coherence that lies over the notes like a primal force. Sibelius' Sixth Symphony is less dark than his other symphonies: this music refreshes like cool spring water, he found. This symphony, with its introspective, pastoral and modal character, is light and airy, and at the same time as impressive as a journey through Finnish natural splendour.