COMPOSERS: Debussy
LABELS: Classical Recording Company
WORKS: Images, Book 2; Préludes, Book 1; Estampes
PERFORMER: Paul Roberts (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: CRC 501-2 DDD (distr. Arabesque, POBox 96, Wadhurst, ESussex TN5 7ZU)
Space, concentration and fire take their turns in this fine start to a Debussy cycle. Roberts doesn’t play like an Englishman. He characterises directly and, at speed, fiercely. In slower music there is unhurried poise and fluidity: the Images sometimes lose any sense of forward movement, but in the Préludes, he lets the music go with some passion – that sunken cathedral soars up like a Massenet processional. Mellow Bösendorfer tone suits the style. Robert Maycock
Debussy: Images, Book 2; Préludes, Book 1; Estampes
Space, concentration and fire take their turns in this fine start to a Debussy cycle. Roberts doesn’t play like an Englishman. He characterises directly and, at speed, fiercely. In slower music there is unhurried poise and fluidity: the Images sometimes lose any sense of forward movement, but in the Préludes, he lets the music go with some passion – that sunken cathedral soars up like a Massenet processional. Mellow Bösendorfer tone suits the style. Robert Maycock
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm