Yeol Eum Son performs Ravel; Emilia Hoving conducts Sibelius's Symphony No. 6

The French composer Ravel blended Spanish music from his youth with American jazz. In the hands of the Korean star pianist Yeol Eum Son, that cosmopolitan sound comes to life in Ravel’sPiano Concerto in G. Sibelius’sSixthis as refreshing as cool spring water, as the composer himself put it. The young Finnish conductor Emilia Hoving leads the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra this morning.

Yeol Eum Son performs Ravel’
French composer Maurice Ravel incorporated the impressions he gathered during a tour of America in 1928 into hisPiano Concerto in G. After an energetic opening, Ravel blends the Spanish music of his youth (his mother was Basque) with American jazz. It is music that not only stimulates the ears but sets the whole body in motion. The second movement is of a completely different order: dreamy and serene. The long, at times painfully beautiful melody of the piano (later in the orchestra, with highlights in the flute and the alto oboe) seems to arise on the spot above the waltz accompaniment of the left hand. The final movement is even more energetic than the opening and takes virtuosity to the next level. The jazz influences are abundant, the rhythm is driving, the harmonies are sparkling. In the hands of the Korean star pianist Yeol Eum Son, it becomes truly world-class.

Sibelius 6
Jean Sibelius’s music is like Finnish nature: impressive, capricious, beautiful, but at times also desolate, icy, and dark. There is a strong cohesion among all the elements that lies over the notes like a primal force. Sibelius’Sixth Symphonyis less dark than his other symphonies: he himself felt that this music was as refreshing as cool spring water. With its introspective, pastoral, and modal character, this symphony is light and airy, yet at the same time as impressive as a journey through the splendor of Finnish nature.