Stravinsky’s groundbreaking Rite of Spring is heard on this recording in the formidable yet seldom performed solo piano transcription by the 20th-century American composer and pianist Sam Raphling. It is coupled with Ravel’s own virtuosic transcription of La Valse, Gershwin’s jazz-infused 3 Preludes and his own solo piano version of Rhapsody in Blue.

Key Features: This recording is a genuine pianistic event. It gathers together a long tradition for arrangement-making and originality in repertoire of which the solo versions are rarely heard in the concert hall. These feature a stunningly distinctive piano transcription of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and original solo versions of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Ravel’s La Valse. Eric Ferrand-N’Kaoua has been acclaimed for his natural sense of phrasing and color, but in this case it is the colors of an entire orchestra which are demanded by Sam Raphling’s seldom played and spectacularly virtuoso transcription of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring which is equal in this regard to Ravel’s own solo piano version of La Valse. Gershwin’s music adds a flavor of American swing via the Three Preludes, followed by the composer’s very pure, complete piano version of his famous Rhapsody in Blue.