In 2014 Cathy Krier released an intriguing album programming Ligeti’s complete Musica ricercata in between two groups of Rameau keyboard pieces. She displayed a good instinct for Ligeti’s rhythmic invention and textural layering that made me curious to hear how she’d take on the composer’s far more demanding Études. However, her soft-edged and dynamically limited 2017 Debussy/Szymanowski album gave more indication of what inconsistencies to expect here.

Her heavy-gaited opening étude, ‘Désordre’, loses steam as it progresses, while, by contrast, she keeps the long, harmonically gorgeous lines in ‘Cordes à vide’ and ‘Arc-en-ciel’ afloat. ‘Touches bloquées’ sounds relatively thick and monotonous next to the playful suppleness of Yuja Wang (DG, 8/09), Thomas Hell (Wergo) and Fredrik Ullén. The mallet-like tremolos of ‘Galamb borong’ are parched rather than rounded.

Although the double notes in ‘Fém’ aren’t as light and pointed as with other pianists, Krier’s brisk tempo at the outset and powerful high-register climax render the ensuing quiet and slow music all the more dramatic. Krier’s prosaic descending chromatic lines throughout ‘Vertige’ cannot compare to Jeremy Denk’s suave and sexy phrasing (Nonesuch, 8/12), nor can her effortful deliberation in ‘Columna infinita’ compare to Ullén’s breezy swing. However, the sustained stillness that Krier conveys in the all-white-key study No 15 justifies her slower than usual tempo.

Notwithstanding instances of unquestionably fine and perceptive playing, Cathy Krier’s Ligeti Études ultimately yield the floor to my longstanding Aimard and Ullén reference versions, with Danny Driver’s recent Hyperion traversal at close hand.