RECITAL

Carnegie Hall
Jean-Yves Thibaudet - Piano

• Schumann - Kinderszenen
• Schumann - Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp Minor
• Ravel - Pavane pour une infante défunte
• Ravel - Miroirs

Schumann’s Romanticism and the iridescent colors of Ravel’s piano music are at the heart of this recital by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, praised by The New York Times for the “sophistication and suavity” of his playing. Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) are a set of melodic miniatures—reflections on childhood that include the touching "Träumerai" (“Day Dreams”). Ravel’s Miroirs is a five-movement suite painted with adventurous harmonies and glowing with shimmering colors. Its most famous movement is "Alborada del gracioso," where Spanish rhythms enliven a morning song to wake lovers.

ROBERT SCHUMANN  Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15

Like Debussy, Schumann had a gift for seeing the world through the eyes of children. But the 13 pieces that make up his Kinderszenen offer more than fanciful visions of sugar plums. Schumann composed these deceptively uncomplicated miniatures in part as a love letter to his future wife, Clara Wieck. Although he called them “as light as a bubble,” Clara saw clearly that he had invested these “scenes of touching simplicity” with the emotional turmoil of his own inner life. 

ROBERT SCHUMANN  Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 11 

In the first of his three piano sonatas, Schumann paid homage to 16-year-old Clara by quoting from her own fandango-like piano piece Dance of the Phantoms. The score features an early appearance of Schumann’s fictitious alter egos, the dreamy Eusebius and the impulsive Florestan. 

MAURICE RAVEL  Pavane pour une infante défunte 

From an early age, Ravel was marked to succeed Debussy as the poet laureate of French music. The two men shared a poetic sensibility and a fondness for sensuous, impressionistic timbres and textures, but at heart, Ravel was a classicist. One of his most popular works, the Pavane pour une infante défunte exudes a mood of ceremonial solemnity. 

MAURICE RAVEL  Miroirs 

Roughly contemporary with Debussy’s Images, Ravel’s Miroirs are similarly adventurous in their approach to harmony, form, and keyboard technique. Although the titles of the pieces evoke pictorial imagery, Ravel is less concerned with traditional tone painting than with capturing the flickering reflections of pianistic sonorities and textures in his musical “mirror.”