Paul Roberts

Valses nobles et sentimentales, Jeux deau and Miroirs by Ravel; excerpts from Années de Pèlerinage by Liszt.In his forthcoming book, Reflections: The Piano Music of Maurice Ravel, British pianist Paul Roberts connects French musical Impressionism to the cultural richness of nineteenth century Europe. In his recitals on this current American tour he demonstrates these connections, showing how Impressionism was inspired by the descriptive piano music of the previous era, above all the music of Franz Liszt. Ravel seems to belong to a different age from the great Romantic Liszt, but in fact Ravel was already ten years old when Liszt died. Today’s programme allows some fascinating insights into the origins of Impressionism, as well as showing how Ravel developed a distinctively modern voice.