Stiff Ravel, but ebullient Brahms–Schoenberg from Paavo Järvi and the LA Phil
By Néstor Castiglione , 14 February 2025 Bachtrack Arnold Schoenberg was ostensibly the star of last night's Los Angeles Philharmonic program, but in the first half he tussled for the limelight with a composer colleague from the other side of the trenches of the Great War. Maurice Ravel counted on some assistance from another star, one whose trajectory is currently on the ascent. Seong-Jin Cho © Elizabeth Asher , courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association I missed Seong-Jin Cho's all-Ravel recital earlier this week and wondered to myself what kind of a pianist he was. There was a temptation to read something into his choice of repertoire: passing over Ravel's tougher, more introspective Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in favor of the glittering Piano Concerto in G . No sooner than Cho set his fingers on the piano keys that it became immediately apparent that his playing – crystalline with a touch of metal – was more natively calibrated towa...
