KEY POINTS:
Fountains: * * * *
Debussey Images: * * * * *
There is much to savour in Fountains, John Chen's new Debussy and Ravel recital. The Auckland pianist finds just the right balance between favourites and the less familiar. Ravel's Jeux deau and Pavane pour une infante defunte are remarkably fresh and crystalline in their clarity while Chen perhaps surrenders more to the moody, volatile portraits of the composer's Miroirs suite.
Debussy's Suite Bergamasque and Pour le Piano are thoughtful and carefully considered down to the last semiquaver. Crisp articulation in the Bergamasque Minuet is a minor miracle while the Toccata from the second suite has one toying with visions of an Impressionist Bach.
The few minutes of Les soirs illumines par lardeur du charbon reveal a melancholic miniature, written by Debussy in the dusk of his career, hearkening back to earlier and more memorable scores. Such is Chen's artistry that its shortcomings as a composition hardly register.
The Macedonian Simon Trpceski makes some significant choices for his new Debussy disc, centred around the six Images that give the CD its title. One senses an intense affection here, whether for the salon ripples of two early Arabesques or the nostalgic images of the Children's Corner suite.
The Images enchant, especially in John Fraser's spacious recording. Debussy's tribute to Rameau is the musical equivalent of graceful gravure while the goldfish of Poissons d'or flash and glisten with the occasional jazzy flick of the tail. Finally, a whirlwind trip to Debussy's L'Isle Joyeuse reminds us of Trpceski's spectacular concertos with the NZSO a few months back.
William Dart
