Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Ravel & Vaughan Williams

Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra follow up their stunning performances of Vaughan Williams’ Fourth and Sixth Symphonies with this magnificent take on his popular Fifth. Master pianist Bertrand Chamayou makes Ravel's beautiful piano concerto sound newly written with his fresh and assertive interpretation. Like a ringmaster, Ravel sets his Piano Concerto in G major in motion with a flick of the whip. Here come Basque folk melodies, Spanish panache, and American jazz. The fascinating melody in the middle section was a painstaking high-wire act for the composer. Ravel wrote, ''That flowing phrase! How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!'' Vaughan Williams was a student of Ravel. His sophisticated, original Fifth Symphony deeply moved audiences who heard it at its premiere during World War II. Its bittersweet melodies and transcendent climax seem to offer listeners a vision of future peace. Program: Suite from the Bad and the Beautiful - David Raksin Piano Concerto in G - Ravel * Symphony No. 5 - Ralph Vaughan Williams *Soloist: Bertrand Chamayou