Krystian Zimerman, Pierre Boulez - Ravel: Piano Concertos, Valses nobles et sentimentales (1999)

His trills in the first movement of the G major Concerto are to die for, his passagework in the finale crystalclear, never hectic, always stylish. For their part Boulez and the Clevelanders are immaculate and responsive; they relish Ravel's neon-lit artificiality and moments of deliberate gaudiness.
That goes equally for the Valses nobles, which have just about every nuance you'd want, and none you wouldn't. The recording is generous with ambience, to the point where some orchestral entries after big climaxes are blurred. Otherwise detail is razor-sharp and one of the biggest selling-points of the disc. Zimerman's humming may be a slight distraction for some listeners, especially in the Left-Hand Concerto, where you may not be always convinced that the LSO knew quite what it was supposed to do with the long notes of the main theme, and where there's a slight lack of tension in exchanges between piano and orchestra. There again, had the G major Concerto not been so wonderful those points might not have registered at all, for this is playing of no mean distinction. In the Left- Hand Concerto, Zimerman's phenomenal pianism sets its own agenda and brings its own rich rewards.