BaL 18.10.25 - Ravel: Piano concerto in G major

[Pulcinella]

I would make sure to audition the beginning of the Adagio before committing. Did someone here call the Lugano version thereof ‘wayward’? I would be hard put to disagree.

I was that someone!
It was the Lugano 2011 recording

• Martha Argerich (piano)
• Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
• Jacek Kaspszyk
• Recorded: 2011-06-30
• Recording Venue: June 2011, Palazzo dei Congressi, Lugano

(which was mentioned in BaL); I still haven't got round to (re)listening to the Lugano 2016 recording (included in the big Complete works box):

• Martha Argerich (piano)
• Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
• Alexander Vedernikov

I see very good reviews for the more recent Argerich/Shani account.

There are three extracts of reviews of the Argerich/Shani (2019) recording given in the Presto listing.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9454429--martha-argerich-plays-beethoven-ravel#reviews
The use of the word Freedom in the Sunday Times review would make me a bit wary.

Her phrasing is a marvel of freedom and spaciousness as she and Shani, in their first recording together, bounce ideas off one another in these well-loved concertos.

[Barbirollians]

I liked the Argerich recording with the late Vedernikov