Lucas Debargue plays Scarlatti, Chopin, Liszt & Ravel
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Fryderyk Chopin, Franz Schubert, Edvard Grieg, Domenico Scarlatti, Maurice Ravel, Franz Liszt
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Sony Classical
Magazine Review Date: 06/2016
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 77
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 88875 192982
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Sonatas for Keyboard Nos. 1-555, Movement: A (L238) |
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
Sonatas for Keyboard Nos. 1-555, Movement: A, Kk24 (L495) |
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
Sonatas for Keyboard Nos. 1-555, Movement: C (L457) |
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
Sonatas for Keyboard Nos. 1-555, Movement: D minor (L422) |
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
Ballade No. 4 |
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer
Fryderyk Chopin, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
Mephisto Waltz No. 1, 'Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
Gaspard de la nuit |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Lucas Debargue, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
Lyric Pieces, Book 4, Movement: No. 3, Melody |
Edvard Grieg, Composer
Edvard Grieg, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
(6) Moments musicaux, Movement: No. 3 in F minor |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Lucas Debargue, Piano |
Author: Patrick Rucker
The recital’s centrepiece is Gaspard de la nuit in a remarkable reading that exudes drama, colour and atmosphere. Pacing in ‘Ondine’ is apt, building to the nymph’s feigned tears and bitter laughter as she disappears into the lake. The sheer desolation conjured in ‘Le gibet’ is all the more palpable for its understatement, the barely audible but incessant bell suggesting incipient madness. Debargue deploys his pianistic arsenal with relative abandon in the mercurial ‘Scarbo’, but it is the cohesion of the triptych that is most striking.
Debargue lavishes great care on the intricate polyphony of Chopin’s F minor Ballade, enveloping the piece with a searchingly poetic quality that is quite appealing. Despite his seductively beautiful sound, one is occasionally brought up short by the odd interpretative choice. I’d be willing to put money on the probability that Chopin didn’t intend the left-hand trills at 6'00" to signal transition into a mincing menuet l’antique. Fortunately such details are rare enough, at least in the Ballade, not to mar the overall impression.
The Mephisto Waltz, that piece of Liszt perhaps most deserving of two decades’ quiet sabbatical, is also colourful, with vivid contrasts and admirable clarity. However, an almost measure-by-measure overlay of Chopinesque rubato, risky in Liszt, impairs structural integrity and impedes narrative thrust. The exaggerated, accelerating returns to the dance at 8'25" and 12'08" sound contrived, while the counterintuitive coda comes off as glib. Two cosseted miniatures, Grieg’s Melody, Op 47 No 3, and Schubert’s third Moment musical seem freighted with emotional cargo beyond their formal capacities. The Scarlatti group, distant from contemporary consensus about Iberian Baroque style, fails to make much of an impression.
Obviously Lucas Debargue is an intelligent, gifted, imaginative young musician, whose special sense of expressive urgency bodes well for the future. When he indulges a tendency of ferreting out minor details to foreground, his interpretations can sound mannered and arch. That said, his continued growth and achievement will be things to watch. Meanwhile, it’s tempting to quote one of Laurie Anderson’s admonishing lyrics: ‘Just talk normal.’
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
SubscribeGramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.