Today's birthday boy is Pascal Roge who was born in 1951.

A few years ago I attended a Colorado Symphony concert that A. Weissenberg was scheduled to play Brahm No.1. The maestro cancelled at the last minute as I understand. Pascal Roge was tapped to replace the sick maestro playing the same concerto. It was indeed a jaw-dropping performance forever etched in my memory. What did I know? A short few minutes after the concerto Mr. Roge came and sat on the empty seat right on my left for the magnificent Brahms Symphony No.1. We struck a conversation which I enjoyed very much. Mr. Roge was a very classy gentleman. What thoughts do you forummers here have on this great pianist? His highly acclaimed CDs are Saint-Saens 5 Piano Concerti and Ravel Complete piano music.

His Saint-Saens Concerti are quite good. I also have a disc of him playing the Poulenc piano concerto, which is lovely.

Bon Anniversaire!

He is a frequent visitor to New Zealand and is coming again in June to play the Grieg and Mozart 25. He gave one of the first solo recitals I ever attended and I still remember it well. The second half was Book 1 of Debussy's Preludes played with an amazing range of colour and dynamic control. He must have played them a thousand times, but his playing of them was still fresh and joyful.

As a recording artist he is known as a French specialist but he studied with Julius Katchen and received a strong grounding in the German repertoire from him as well. I have both his Ravel and Debussy sets on Decca and they are very good, but he was very young when he made them and I'm sure if he got the opportunity to record this music again it would be well worth hearing.

An interesting thing he said once in an interview here: he came across a fantastic instrument in a concert hall in Germany, the best he had ever played, and though he begged to be allowed to buy it, it was not for sale. He philosophically reflected that it is probably not beneficial to have to good an instrument at home, because if you do not constantly have to strive for a beautiful sound on your own instrument, you will be unable to draw one from the lesser instruments you encounter. He likened his experience with the German piano to a night with a beautiful woman: a wonderful encounter but one that was not meant to be forever!

It's my favorite recording of the set (still haven't listened to all of Hough's, although I like his #5).

I have the Roge set, but haven't listened to it lately. I remember it being very good. I think Hough's is really good (same opinion for his Rachmaninoff).

I wonder if Roge ever concertizes in the US? I don't recall hearing of him touring the West Coast. I'd really like to hear his playing.