For color, control, clarity, and finesse, Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s Debussy Images rank close to the classic Michelangeli and Moravec versions. More than many pianists, Aimard articulates Mouvement’s rapid arpeggiated figurations so that you hear the “air” between the notes, yet without percussive residue. In Poissons d’or, Aimard manages to reconcile Debussy’s “aussi léger que possible” marking while still differentiating long and detached phrases, achieving felicitous shadings with little recourse to the sustain pedal. And the popular Reflets dans l’eau shimmers through Aimard’s mellifluous chord balances and focused runs. Perhaps Moravec’s limpid sonority and dynamic largesse conveys a warmer overall impression, but Aimard’s cooler authority commands equal respect and admiration.
The Etudes, on the whole, fare less well. Aimard has trouble integrating the first etude’s myriad tempo changes and makes little of the composer’s whimsical expressive directives and dynamic extremes, particularly compared to Mitsuko Uchida’s far more vibrant and characterful reading. The three double-note etudes (Thirds, Fourths, and Sixths) sound similarly prosaic, while Pour les Octaves lacks the swing and heady abandon implied by Debussy’s “Joyeux et emporté, librement rhythmé” request (Florent Boffard’s altogether juicier interpretation hits this nail on the head). On the other hand, Pour les huit doigts and Pour les degrés chromatiques scintillate like dry ice–and complement Uchida’s more impulsive traversals.
Aimard’s immaculately voiced repeated notes frighteningly uphold the Ninth Etude’s stringent standards on disc, and the pianist sustains No. 10’s varied textures to picture-perfection. His business-like way with No. 11, though, pays little heed to the music’s ravishing harmonic ideas and sexy surface. Aimard plays No. 12’s difficult chord-to-octave jumps accurately, but his performance pales next to Uchida’s panther-like fury. If your interest lies with the Images, by all means acquire this disc. Uchida (Philips), Boffard (Harmonia Mundi), and Ju-Ying Song (Pro Piano) remain the Etudes’ holy reference trinity.
