Chopin, Debussy, Ravel

by Kim Bernard

Overview

In a way, young pianist Kim Bernard sets himself a big challenge by choosing very standard repertory works for his debut album over unusual pieces. After all, to make an impression with Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel is more difficult than it is with, say, Charles-Valentin Alkan or Louise Farrenc. Furthermore, Bernard is the kind of player whose virtues come from thorough training, of the sort that can squeeze the life out of the music. He is not a subjective pianist but rather one who executes the music cleanly down to its small details. As it happens, he has the chops to impress listeners anyhow, and one wants to hear more from this artist. He is at his absolute best in Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin, a neo-Baroque work whose ornaments ring brilliantly under Bernard's hands. His angular reading of Debussy's L'isle joyeuse is also memorable, even if his pieces from Book I of Images may be too dry for some tastes. There is absolutely no shortage of recordings of the Chopin works at the beginning of the program, but Bernard persuades that he has something new to say about them; consider the entrancing Berceuse, Op. 57. With excellent sound from the Studio de Meudon, this is an auspicious debut. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	08/19/2022
Label:	Erato
UPC:	0190296201141
Rank:	160053

Tracks

1. Ballade no. 4 en fa mineur, Op. 52
2. Berceuse en r¿¿ b¿¿mol majeur, Op. 57
3. Barcarolle en fa di¿¿se majeur, Op. 60
4. L' Isle joyeuse CD 109, L.106
5. Images Livre I, CD 105, L.110~Reflets dans l'eau
6. Images Livre I, CD 105, L.110~Hommage ¿¿ Rameau
7. Images Livre I, CD 105, L.110~Mouvement
8. Le Tombeau de Couperin M. 68~I. Pr¿¿lude
9. Le Tombeau de Couperin M. 68~II. Fugue
10. Le Tombeau de Couperin M. 68~III. Forlane
11. Le Tombeau de Couperin M. 68~IV. Rigaudon
12. Le Tombeau de Couperin M. 68~V. Menuet
13. Le Tombeau de Couperin M. 68~VI. Toccata

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kim Bernard   Primary Artist,Piano

Technical Credits

Maurice Ravel   Composer
Cecile Lenoir   Engineer,Producer
Gautier Capucon   Executive Producer
Cedric Le Dantec   Photography
Ray Granlund   Liner Note Translation
Frederic Chopin   Composer
Claude Debussy   Composer
Danuta Pieter   Photography