Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Piano Music - Volume 5
2 Arabesques (1890-1) [8:56], Danse (Tarentelle styrienne) (1890) [5:09],
Ballade(1890) [7:26], Valse romantique (1890) [3:22], Rêverie (1890) [5:02],
Suite Bergamasque (1890-1905) [18:04], Mazurka (1890) [2:55], Nocturne (1892)
[6:21], Danse bohémienne (1880) [2:08], Pour le Piano (1894-1901) [14:20]
Noriko Ogawa (piano)
rec. Nybrokajen 11, Stockholm, Sweden, January 2000
BIS-CD-1405 [75:08]
I have suggested several times that the Debussy piano music cycles by Ogawa
and Bavouzet (Chandos) are the most significant of recent surveys. The Bavouzet
has been fairly speedy in its erection. Begun in 2006 it is now complete,
maybe more than complete since the latest volume embraced piano transcriptions
of some orchestral works. If Bavouzet intends to pursue this path he may have
several more volumes in store. Nevertheless, as far as original piano music
is concerned his series is finished.
Ogawa has built up her cycle much more slowly and patiently. Volume I, with
much praised versions of the “Estampes” and “Images”, was set down in 2000.
Succeeding volumes followed at two- or three-yearly intervals. The most recent,
until now, was a really magnificent set of the “Etudes” (Vol. IV). Though
Ogawa presumably doesn’t intend to delve into orchestral transcriptions she
has nevertheless included several items – the two-hand version of the “Epigraphes
antiques”, an enthralling performance of “La Boîte à joujoux” and some smaller
pieces – which did not appear in earlier “canonical” cycles by Gieseking,
Casadesus and others. Here, then, is her final volume, following the previous
one at a due interval.
So it is surprising to say the least to discover that this last volume had
existed all along. It was set down a few months before Vol. I and has been
sitting unreleased for eleven years. BIS have explained to MusicWeb that,
since Ogawa’s second sessions contained more substantial music, the
decision was made to put this first disc on hold, record all the later works
and then bring out the present CD of Debussy’s earlier pieces as the
concluding volume. This would have been OK if the entire process had taken
place over two or three years, but Ogawa is still a fairly young artist who
has surely matured in the meantime. I would like to hear how she plays this
music now.
But let me start by saying that this may well be the most beautiful Debussy
disc in my collection. Ogawa’s sound is always limpid, her textures transparent,
her phrasing natural and musical, her tempi unhurried but backed up by a superb
sense of rhythm. I listened first to the “Suite Bergamasque” and could only
wonder, in the “Prélude”, at how naturally she applies quite generous rubato
without distorting either the line or the rhythmic motion. Debussy actually
marked this piece “tempo rubato” and performers tend to divide between those
who pull the music out of shape in their attempt to obey the instruction,
and those who go prim and straight. Ogawa has the secret of it. Her “Menuet”
and her “Passepied” are taken very gently, but with a rhythmic lilt that makes
you smile. “Clair de lune” is played with real feeling yet free of romantic
excess.
If I had begun at the beginning, though, with the first “Arabesque”, I might
have had a few doubts. It’s certainly a very beautiful performance, the music
flows gently and naturally from her fingers. But it is unusually slow and
a little placid. At this point I turned to Bavouzet. He is quite a bit faster,
but his actual sound is no less translucent and the music floats as if on
air. In truth, Debussy marked this piece “Andantino con moto”. To my ears
Bavouzet’s tempo is Allegretto while Ogawa’s is a full Andante. So maybe the
right tempo is in the middle, but of the two I prefer Bavouzet.
The tables turn in the second “Arabesque”, though. The clarity and evenness
of Ogawa’s triplets is marvellous pianism in itself, but above all she uses
her slower tempo to bring out the cheeky humour of the piece. Bavouzet by
contrast sounds as if he has a train to catch.
The other piece about which I had some doubt is the “Ballade”. This, like
the first “Arabesque”, is marked “Andantino con moto” and here, too, while
on a phrase-by-phrase basis I admired the sheer beauty of Ogawa’s slow unfolding,
she does little to disguise the sectional construction of the music, as a
more ardent rendering can do to some extent. On the other hand, she is ravishing
in the stronger slow pieces, the “Rêverie” and the “Nocturne”. But so, frankly,
is Bavouzet. She is magical in the “Tarentelle styrienne” and scores notable
successes with the “Valse romantique” and the “Mazurka”. Every time a record
of Debussy’s early pieces heaves in sight my heart sinks at the thought I
have to listen to these two again. Ogawa’s graceful elegance has won me over
at last. I might even listen to them again for sheer pleasure. The pay-off
of the “Mazurka” shows she can be bold when needs be and she’s quite cheeky
with the “Danse bohémienne”.
And lastly, the most mature work here, “Pour le piano”, often interpreted
in a dry neo-classical light. Ogawa’s pianism is all about colours. While
Bavouzet’s “Toccata” is a brilliant display of fireworks, Ogawa’s sounds as
if it has as much right to be called “Jardins sous la pluie” as the later
piece that actually bears that name. Pure magic!
So has perfection come to an imperfect world? Well, when I started by saying
this might be the most beautiful Debussy record in my collection, some might
have detected an inherent reservation. Whatever Keats thought, I’m not sure
that beauty is truth, or at least the only way to it. If heaven is really
as full of angels sitting on clouds and playing harps as they say, this would
surely have even a Trappist Monk longing for an unredeemed saxophone or two.
Amid so much unremitting loveliness one may just sometimes wish for something
bigger, riskier, even a little abrasive. In short, for Bavouzet. Ungrateful
sod, aren’t I? But here we’re back to my opening point. For we are comparing
Bavouzet pretty well as he is now with Ogawa eleven years ago. Ogawa’s superbly
characterized “La Boîte à joujoux” and her magnificent “Etudes” suggest that
she might herself provide this extra interpretative range today. So, grateful
as I am for this truly beautiful record, I wish I had been allowed to hear
it eleven years ago when it was made, and could now hear Ogawa’s latest recording
of the same music.
But there it is. As things stand Ogawa and Bavouzet offer in any case the
two essential Debussy cycles of our time. Ogawa is unfailingly beautiful,
truly poetic, Bavouzet sometimes bolder and wider-ranging. But he can be ravishing
too. On the downside, Ogawa at her least effective can be a little placid,
Bavouzet at his can be over-assertive, even aggressive. Bavouzet also goes
in for a lot of left-hand-before-right and split chords, which I suppose some
people actually like. It’s a big drawback for me. As the two cycles are differently
coupled, there’s no way you can get a bit of one and a bit of the other and
still have all the music without duplications. So you have to throw in your
lot completely with one or the other. Or, if you really love Debussy, get
both. And, since the “Préludes” seem to draw out the weakest in both of them,
supplement them with Gieseking in those. If you don’t like historical sound,
then Thiollier’s “Préludes” (Naxos) are the high point of an uneven cycle
and offer a plausible reproduction of Gieseking’s volubility in modern sound.
Christopher Howell
http://www.eclassical.com/
The final disc of a wonderful cycle.