Clair de lune
and several of the other big
Debussy
hits are included in the program offered here by pianist
Esther Birringer
, and there is nothing for which she doesn't have a good deal of competition. Yet
Birringer
, a pianist who doesn't record often and thinks the music through when she does, offers distinctive readings. She includes a note saying that she has always been inspired by
Monet
, but actually, her
is not so much of the "Impressionist" type (and actually fits with
's own dislike of that term).
has a flawless, fluent technique, and she applies it to
in music that reveals a good deal of contrapuntal art if it is given the chance. One won't hear hazy moonscapes in
's playing, and the time
spends on the border between sound and silence is never more than straightforwardly rendered. However, a piece like
Mouvement
, from
Book I of Images
, is jewel-like.
Rubicon Classics
did well to record
in a studio, in this case, the SWR Studio Kaiserslautern in Germany, for maximum clarity is what she is about. This is fresh
, something that is not so easily accomplished. ~ James Manheim