Precision, beauty, and surface polish characterize Eric Himy’s superb way with Ravel’s piano music. Himy’s elegant, highly articulated pianism was made for the five Miroirs, where each phrase and textural strand resonates with breathtaking clarity. Alborada del gracioso particularly clicks its hot heels to the tune of Himy’s stinging, sultry accents. The same praise applies to Scarbo (the third and final movement of Gaspard de la nuit), a performance that manages to be both menacing and nimble at the same time. While Gaspard’s first two movements make less individual an impression, Himy, like Angela Hewitt, sustains a slower-than-usual basic tempo for Le Gibet by virtue of his meticulous dynamic control. A few tiny inaccuracies at Ondine’s climax are a small price to pay for Himy’s roaring intensity here. The pianist also pedals through certain harmonic changes, creating deliberately blurry effects that might sound strange on first hearing.
By contrast, the Pavane’s inner lines are assertively and steadily projected, and similarly for the Habanera and Menuet. I prefer a more rock-solid, steady tempo for La Valse’s opening bass-register groans than what Himy gives us, but his fanciful rubatos and textural emendations to Ravel’s simpler piano arrangement eventually won me over. Who can resist those twinkle-dust glissandos–so vulgar, so delicious! An enjoyable disc all around.
