The art of transcription is a difficult one. Many pieces resist the passage from one instrumental sphere to another. Although Anders Miolin may be a superior virtuoso of the guitar and a truly sensitive performer, his transcriptions of Debussy’s piano pieces for the 10-stringed instrument are neither convincing nor pleasant. The French composer’s writing is too intimately bound to the possibilities of the keyboard to surive this musical shrinking process. “I made these transcriptions in order to pick up the colors,” says the guitarist. But color is precisely what is missing in this recording. No matter how affectionately he plays, Miolin never can sustain or blend the sound enough to recreate Debussy’s multi-layered textures and resonances. The true essence of it simply lies beyond the capacity of the guitar. The instrument’s limited range and array of sonorities reduces the textures to a bare skeleton, forcing the soloist to constantly slow down the tempo and add unnatural accents to the phrases. A few successful moments here and there (Pour l’égyptienne) are not enough to compensate for the feeling of dissatisfaction and boredom. The spirited and lively Two Arabesques become earthbound and ceremonious: even the basic three-against-two rhythm in the first one, so easy to realize on the piano, sounds labored. La plus que lente takes on an erratic pace far from the nostalgic swing of the piano original. Most of the Préludes simply lose their entire sonic “frame” so subtly devised by Debussy. Where is the harmonic depth of focus in Voiles or the mysterious melting of harmonies in La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune? Despite being one of Debussy’s most “guitaristic” pieces (with its allusions to flamenco), La sérénade interrompue sounds thin, foggy, and grayish. Anders Miolin would be better off using his indisputable talent on original pieces, or transcriptions that ideally suit the guitar. As often with BIS, the faithful and natural sound recording comes very close to perfection, but in this case to little purpose.
