This outstanding Debussy series has been praised vigorously by my colleagues Jed Distler and Christophe Huss, and I can only second their enthusiasm. Bavouzet’s Debussy offers the epitome of style, virtuosity, taste, and interpretive intelligence. His touch is miraculous. In the second book of Images, listen to Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut: each layer of harmony has its own independent dynamics and phrasing, making the piano sound like a miniature orchestra being played by far more than a mere two hands. In Mouvement (from Set I) Bavouzet’s choice of tempo is perfect, his rhythmic inflections infectious but never mechanical. Listening to him is a joy.
If the Études remain Debussy’s least popular set of piano pieces, this performance should go a long way toward easing their passage into the pianistic mainstream. It’s not just the humor that Bavouzet projects in the first piece (“pour les cing doigts”), or his natural flexibility and brilliance in the octave study–there is also his sensitivity to texture and sonority. Indeed, the chromatic study in Book 2 makes some amazing sounds that look forward to Conlon Nancarrow’s player piano studies. Like the other releases in this series, the entire recital is perfectly recorded. There’s also a bonus in the form of a completion by Roy Howat of Debussy’s first sketches for the arpeggio study. It’s nice to have, if hardly necessary, but the entire series remains an essential acquisition for pianophiles and Debussy fans alike.
