Monthly Archives: May 2020

Over the past months, the CD ‘Halo‘, with works for piccolo and piano played by Ilonka Kolthof and Ralph van Raat, has received rave reviews in both the national and the international press. A selection:

‘‘The performances on this recording are first rate. The ensemble playing between the two is exceptional, and the two musicians play off another creating some remarkable tone colors.’’- Flute Talk Magazine, 2020 March issue
“Kolthof impresses with alternating brilliant and lyrical playing. Pianist Ralph van Raat excels in the demanding keyboard parts.” – NRC Handelsblad ****
“Ilonka’s playing is elegant and refined, even in staccato and flutter tongue. Control is the key word, also in Ralph van Raat’s piano playing. Recommended! – FLUIT, 2020 Spring issue
“Kolthof never sounds shrill and she whispers with her instrument (…). Her partner in crime is the unparalleled Ralph van Raat, who brings to the limelight, amongst others, Jan Vriend’s Sonata with much urgency. “- De Volkskrant ****

Today, Naxos has released Ralph’s 30th new album worldwide: French Piano Rarities!! The album contains works by Debussy, Messiaen, Boulez and a small piece by Ravel, that are seldomly or never heard on the concert stage. One of the works is a world premiere recording of Boulez’ substantial early work Prélude, Toccata et Scherzo, for which Ralph has been granted special permission from both the Boulez heirs and the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, Switzerland. Other works on the CD are, amongst others, two separate solo movements from Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux Étoiles for piano and orchestra, and a number of posthumously discovered works by Debussy and Messiaen. The works give an interesting historical perpective to the composers’ stylistic developments; for example, the mentioned Boulez work forms an easy-to-follow bridge between the romantic past and the new modern composing styles at that time. Debussy’s Étude sheds a light on his renewed interest in earlier composers at the end of his life, leading to his Sonatas for different instrumental combinations, and so on. Raymond Bisha has created a podcast about this release here and some buying options are given here!