Ousset's CD is full, forward and bright in tone, in the B minor Sonata more akin in level and quality to Pollini for DG than the less close Ashkenazy for Decca. Or am I deceived into reaching such a conclusion by the nature of the playing itself? For like Pollini, the masterful Ousset commands in this work, whereas the more vulnerable, hypersensitive Ashkenazy persuades and cajoles. Certainly I think Ashkenazy's own intimately nuanced sound-world the most truly Chopinesque of the three, and he would be my personal first choice despite some over-yielding rhythm towards the end of the finale.
In the Ballades, Ousset and Duchable (Erato) can offer brightness of sound as against Ashkenazy's mellowness. She herself avoids what from Ashkenazy here sometimes struck me as over-obtrusive rubato in point-making while not always matching Duchable in eloquence of phrasing. But all this only emerges in microscopic comparison. Heard on its own, Ousset's new Chopin CD will give immense pleasure by reason of her indefatigable musical verve.'