Estampes (1903) [13:02]
Images - 1ère série (1905)[15:20]
Images - 2ème série (1907) [13:57]
12 Études (1915) [46:09]
Encore - Hommage à Haydn (1909) [3:07]
Craig Sheppard (piano)
rec. live, 15-16 April 2013, Meany Theater, Seattle
ROMÉO RECORDS 7299/7300 [42:19 + 49:16]
This pair of CDs, released at the end of 2013, anticipates the fifteenth
anniversary of Roméo Records in 2014. With this set the label notches
up its 100th disc. It’s appropriate that Craig Sheppard
should be the artist with which Roméo Records reaches this landmark
for he has been one of their most important and consistently excellent
artists over the years.
Just a few months ago I gave a warm
welcome to a Debussy recital by Craig Sheppard in which he offered
the complete Préludes. Now he plays a further generous selection
of Debussy’s solo piano music, recorded once more live in concert
and at his usual venue in Seattle. These latest performances were given
some six months after the performances of the Préludes.
The most substantial offering here is the set of twelve studies that Debussy
wrote towards the end of his life. Behind the apparently dry title - did
Debussy ever write anything ‘dry’? - lies a good deal of fine,
colourful and inventive music. Indeed, there is nothing academic about
these pieces and I’m sure Debussy could easily have dreamed up descriptive
titles for many of them had he been so inclined. The very first Étude
- Pour les cinq doigts - dispels any suggestion of academic fustiness.
Au contraire; Debussy starts with a real tease in the shape of
a childishly simple five-note figure but within seconds his imagination
has taken wing and from this oh-so-basic material he constructs a dexterous,
inventive study. This sets the standard for what is to follow: Debussy
may challenge the technique of pianists in these Études but he
also challenges their wit, imagination and flair. In Craig Sheppard we
have a pianist who is fully able to surmount all these challenges.
So, for example, he realises expertly what Debussy called the ‘disconcerting
sonorities’ of Pour les sixtes and he displays great virtuosity
in the whirling music of Pour les huit doigts. In Pour les agréments
I appreciated the variety of colour and the dexterity of his playing and
I loved the witty, lively account of Pour les notes répétées.
By contrast the study that follows, Pour les sonoritiés opposées,
frequently demands a delicate touch and Sheppard supplies this, together
with an exceptional feel for pianistic colouring, in a super performance
of the piece. The penultimate study, Pour les arpèges composées
offers the pianist the chance to produce some voluptuous textures and
Sheppard plays it marvellously. This performance of the complete Études
strikes me as an unqualified success.
The first half of the programme is equally pleasing and satisfying. Sheppard,
as usual, provides his own booklet notes and he says that Cloches à
travers les feuilles (Images, Book II) ‘provides a kaleidoscope
of influences.’ A successful performance also requires the pianist
to produce a kaleidoscope of colours and that’s what Sheppard provides,
producing some expertly judged sonorities, both loud and soft. His playing
is most imaginative - and skilful. Even better, if anything, is Et
la lune descend sur le temple qui fut. This music, says Sheppard,
‘inhabits a world where time and space are suspended’ and
he’s as good as his word. In an admirably subtle performance he
displays a lovely touch, investing the music with poetry and mystery.
In his traversal of Poissons d’or, which concludes the set,
the listener can almost see the goldfish darting around the pool.
The performances of Images Book I are just as good. The music of
Hommage à Rameau should be full of refined elegance, poise
and order; it is here. A very different type of pianism is required for
Mouvements. This is all about energy and excellent rhythmic articulation
and I admire the way Craig Sheppard achieves this without sacrificing
tonal quality. There are many felicitous touches in his performance of
Estampes, notably in the second of the three pieces, La Soirée
dans Grenade. Here there’s admirable delicacy of touch combined
with flexibility. Listening to this piece or any other of Debussy’s
musical evocations of Spain it seems remarkable that, so far as is known,
he visited the country but once - and then on just a day trip.
As an encore to the programme Sheppard plays a delightful miniature, Hommage
à Haydn and he prefaces this with a brief but engaging spoken
introduction.
These recordings are the product of two live concerts. There’s applause
at the end of each set of pieces but otherwise the audience is commendably
silent. The sound is very good, giving a realistic impression of Sheppard’s
Steinway. As I mentioned earlier, Craig Sheppard provides his own programme
note, as is his wont. As ever, these are readable and knowledgeable. The
scholarship extends to the music itself: Sheppard has used the authoritative
Oeuvres Complètes edition published by Durand-Costallat
but he has clearly not taken these scholarly versions for granted and
he has made a few minor textual amendments, as he mentions in the booklet.
Many listeners may not register these changes but it’s good to know
that the artist has thought deeply about the music he’s playing
as well as delivering the music with consistent virtuosity and evident
empathy for Debussy’s unique sound-world.
This is a most distinguished and enjoyable Debussy recital.
John Quinn
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