COMPOSERS: Debussy
LABELS: Hyperion
WORKS: Suite bergamasque; Pour le piano; Estampes; Children’s Corner; Images; Préludes; L’isle joyeuse; Masques
PERFORMER: Lívia Rév (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: CDS 44061/3 DDD
Previous Debussy recordings by Rév were a high point of the Saga catalogue. Hyperion’s set, though incomplete – no Etudes, notably – is treasurable again, spaciously phrased and quick-spirited. The subtlest of nuances generate a compelling concentration without the need for point-scoring rhetoric. Her rubato is fluent, but a sense of repose underlies it. While she achieves power by cunning preparation, it is the lyrical melancholy and strength of feeling that best characterise these distinctive, and distinguished, performances. Robert Maycock
Debussy: Suite bergamasque; Pour le piano; Estampes; Children's Corner; Images; Préludes; L'isle joyeuse; Masques
Previous Debussy recordings by Rév were a high point of the Saga catalogue. Hyperion’s set, though incomplete – no Etudes, notably – is treasurable again, spaciously phrased and quick-spirited. The subtlest of nuances generate a compelling concentration without the need for point-scoring rhetoric. Her rubato is fluent, but a sense of repose underlies it. While she achieves power by cunning preparation, it is the lyrical melancholy and strength of feeling that best characterise these distinctive, and distinguished, performances. Robert Maycock
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm