Pascal Roge, RSO Wien, Bertrand de Billy - Gershwin, Ravel: Piano Concertos (2021) [SACD]

Here’s a disc whose breathtaking sonic detail and attractive, roomy ambience make a cogent case for investing in SACD surround-sound hardware, although it sounds perfectly fine and vivid enough via standard stereo two-channel playback. Regarding the performance, pianist Pascal Rogé here surpasses his early-1980s Ravel Concerto recording under Charles Dutoit. He makes more of the first movement’s lyrical, unaccompanied episodes, yet never overindulges, and he treats the central slow movement like a song rather than a dirge, with tasteful droplets of rubato. The finale’s busy fingerwork appears to fly off the printed page through Rogé’s incisive articulation and biting accents. Just listen to his dazzling repeated notes here and in the finale of Gershwin’s concerto. The latter also finds Rogé in dapper fettle and fully attuned to the composer’s syncopated swagger.
Bertrand de Billy elicits alert and translucent playing from the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, aside from thin, undifferentiated string tone and some less than idiomatic first-desk solo work in the Gershwin. While these performances won’t make you forget the above-mentioned reference versions, nor recent contenders of equal stature (like Grimaud’s Gershwin and Moravec’s Ravel), their combined sonic and interpretive assets add up to a pleasurable and memorable listening experience.