Ravel’s triptych is a staple among pianists, many of whom present the work as a tour de force; an undeniable character trait of the set, but certainly only so at the most fundamental of levels.

Some present “Ondine” (a water nymph, sprite, mermaid, siren or a combination of all) as a sort of Glenda-the-good-witch-type, as one finds in “The Wizard of Oz”...

...or a version where she is an afterthought to the undulating waves she swims in.

Then there is the Bollywood version where she wants only to be seen as beautiful in her watery silks and emerald green fish scales - but there is neither bite nor bark in this iteration.

It takes a pianist such a Gulsin Onay, to take all of Ravel’s notes and imbue them with a layered dimensionality I’ve not heard before, creating a creature that is beautiful, innocent up to a point, interesting, irresistible, a coquette, smart, wicked, and deadly if she wishes.

In Onay’s hands, Ravel’s thirty-second notes (and there are so many of them) provide mood and remind us that this is an aquatic setting. Never does she use those notes to display technique (as many do) but she has them take a backseat to the omnipresent limpid melodies of Ondine.

In the Nordic version of this legend, Ondine pulls the witless and hypnotised man-prey under the waves to drown him -- whereas, in the 19th century European version, she becomes mortal when she falls in love...but if/when her love interest betrays her she returns to the water and curses him.

Ravel’s version, alluringly played by Onay, falls somewhere in between, having Ondine play the part of cat who toys with the man-mouse of her choosing up to the moment of his acquiescing - at which point she laughs at his weakness, releases him from her spell and moves on to the next hapless victim. 

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