This is volume two of Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s complete Debussy piano music. Unfortunately, things haven’t improved since volume one, which included a dull reading of both books of Préludes. Thibaudet’s performances here are as highly polished and superficially elegant as they are bland and antiseptic, giving a false, stereotyped image of Debussy’s pianistic output. The French pianist seems more obsessed with producing nice sounds than giving direction, shape, and life to the music. His tone remains even and smooth throughout every piece–so much so, that everything sounds the same, from the early, quietly Fauréan Ballade, to the late, visionary Etudes.
Played all on the surface and without any sense of mystery or evocation, the two sets of Images have none of Claudio Arrau’s majestic sonority (Philips), Samson François’ supreme fantasy (EMI), Paul Jacobs’ scintillating precision (Nonesuch), Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli’s ascetic refinement (DG), or even, to stay with the living, Alain Planès’ subtle harmonic flair (Harmonia Mundi). Thibaudet keeps the exact same soporific approach throughout the angular and abstract Etudes, pieces that call for strong physical impact as much as a varied tonal palette. Devoid of tension, the dramatic Pour les quartes or Pour les accords become mere decorative exercises; Pour les sixtes loses its profound sense of nostalgia and Pour les cinq doigts its playfulness. Children’s Corner is similarly under-characterized, completely lacking in rhythmic bounce and sense of humor. The recording has a slight artificial resonance that smoothes away the differences of articulation. Yes, Thibaudet plays nicely. But what for?
