The best items here are solid, sensitive readings of the first two Images Oubliées, the first two selections in Images Book II, and a buoyant Masques that features nicely sprung repeated notes. For the rest, however, I’m afraid I can’t work up much enthusiasm. Jean-Pierre Armengaud’s perpetual motion fingerwork throughout Mouvement and Jardins sous la pluie becomes increasingly notey and labored as the music progresses. Pagodes and La soirée dans Grenade lack the sensual inflections and dynamic contrasts other pianists bring to these wonderful pieces (the list goes beyond Richter and Gieseking’s benchmarks). Even worse are Armengaud’s unevenly executed arpeggios and lack of textural definition in Reflets dans l’eau. Hommage à Rameau’s careful dynamic contouring is flattened out, and pokey accents preclude any inkling of the statuesque eloquence brought out by Rubinstein and Michelangeli. Despite some memorable moments, it’s hard to see how this disc can compete in an overcrowded Debussy piano music market, and its drab sonics don’t help either.
