Jazz Piano: The Left Hand

The listener may see the phrase "piano Erard 1905" on the cover of this album of Ravel works and wonder whether the historical performance movement has really gone too far. And truly this is, at least from a modern standpoint, an unusual and even bizarre Ravel recording. It's not so much the Erard piano, which sounds as though it was made to play Fauré and Debussy, but is not so far from other concert grands. What's strange is the general interpretation by Flemish historical keyboardist Jos van Immerseel, known mostly for his performances of music from the eighteenth and perhaps the early nineteenth centuries.

While some great pianists play the core works we've heard countless times, Marc Andre-Hamelin has an affinity for those lesser-heard gems. On his recording of Busoni's epic Piano Concerto, Op. 38, the pianist revealed abilities that couldn't be overshadowed by the complex composition at hand.