COMPOSERS: Ravel
LABELS: Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord
WORKS: Le tombeau de Couperin; Sonatine; Miroirs
PERFORMER: Claude Helffer (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: HMA 190923 ADD (1970)
Thoughtful, singing performances: Helffer enjoys the sonorities and the speculative harmonies, letting the lyrical peaks of the Sonatine and the cumulative angry clatter of Tombeau’s Toccata emerge from far-sighted phrasing. He is more interested in character and fluency than ultra-precision or laying on the charm. There’s less vivacity, more bite than in Anne Queffélec’s equally humane coupling of Tombeau and Miroirs. The 1970 sound is bright, with just enough ambience. Robert Maycock
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin; Sonatine; Miroirs
Thoughtful, singing performances: Helffer enjoys the sonorities and the speculative harmonies, letting the lyrical peaks of the Sonatine and the cumulative angry clatter of Tombeau’s Toccata emerge from far-sighted phrasing. He is more interested in character and fluency than ultra-precision or laying on the charm. There’s less vivacity, more bite than in Anne Queffélec’s equally humane coupling of Tombeau and Miroirs. The 1970 sound is bright, with just enough ambience. Robert Maycock
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:36 pm