We always attend a concert in the hope that a significant musical event will take place, and that the artist performing will weave a web of magic to stimulate our feelings and our intellect. Unfortunately, Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s recital for the Carmel Music Society on January 11 at Sunset Center in Carmel left these expectations largely unfufilled.
From any viewpoint, it was a curious program. The first half consisted of Debussy’s Preludes, Book II, and the second half contained familiar short works by Chopin. The entire program consisted of 25 short pieces, none of which was over six minutes long, and some were as short as a minute or two. There was not one major work on the entire program. Although you might argue that the second book of Debussy Préludes constitutes an extended suite, in truth, in Thibaudet’s performance, the Préludes remained static miniatures that limped along on a parallel course and did not achieve a powerful cumulative effect.
Debussy’s Préludes Book II display a much more adventurous harmonic language than those in Book I, and the polytonality of the opening Brouillards is a good example. A pianist needs to be a consummate colorist in order to weave its mysterious sounds into a fabric that is instantly compelling. This was a recurrent problem during this recital, for in Feuilles mortes, “Les Fées sont d’exquise danseuses,” Bruyères, La Terrasse des audiences du clair de lune, Ondine and Canope Thibaudet consistently failed to produce the lovely sounds that would have commanded our attention and served to illuminate Debussy’s designs.
It was significant that the more energetic Préludes, La Puerto del Vino, General Lavine – eccentric, Les tierces alternées and Feux d’Artifice were more successful as they permitted Thibaudet’s splendid technique to create grand effects.
After intermission, Thibaudet presented the Chopin portion of the program with examples of the “lyrical Chopin” (Nocturnes, Waltzes and three of the slower Préludes) as well as the virtuoso Chopin (two Etudes and four of the more difficult Préludes). It was in the first two Nocturnes of Op. 9 that we had an opportunity to observe Thibaudet’s approach to the lyrical Chopin. Instead of hearing lovely melodies with a true cantabile, that is to say with the melodies full voiced over a whispering accompaniment, we heard such loud left hand playing that the listener’s attention was constantly being diverted to the accompanying fabric rather than the melodies.
The two Etudes, Op. 25, Nos. 2 and 3, that followed were another matter. Here was commanding playing of the highest order. The F Minor Etude purred along like a well-oiled machine, and the difficult F Major Etude was tossed off with admirable ease. I don’t mean to imply that these performances were in any way glib. On the contrary, Chopin’s intentions were beautifully realized in an elegant and convincing manner, and it was especially impressive that Thibaudet was able to make these Etudes look and sound so easy.
The two Waltzes that followed presented quite a contrast. The slow, melancholy A Minor Waltz again suffered somewhat from a lack of focus on its beautiful melodies, and the E-flat Major, Grand Valse Brillante lost some of its graceful effect from being played so fast and aggressively.
The program closed with a selection from the Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 28. The first two in C Major and A Minor were beautifully played. Hans von Bülow thought that the A Minor Prélude was one of the ugliest pieces ever written – in fact, it reminded him of a snake crawling through high grass – but Thibaudet generated considerable charm in his performance. The longest Prélude in this group, the “Raindrop” in D-flat Major may have suffered from a lack of well-defined cantabile, but the two more virtuosic Préludes in the group, No. 22 in G Minor and No. 24 in D Minor made a powerful effect.
Mr. Thibaudet speaking from the stage at the beginning of the concert told the audience how much he loved the Hamburg Steinway he had selected in Paris for the Carmel Music Society, and we have to say that it is quite well suited to his personal style. However, there are disappointing sounds coming from the instrument, notably a lack of clarity in the treble and a weakness in the bass (the lowest D played as the last note of the concluding Prélude in D Minor is a good example of a dead “thunking” sound not normally associated with the finest of nine-foot Steinway concert grands).
A capacity audience was treated to two encores. The first was a jazzy piece by Bill Evans, entitled “Waltz for Debbie.” Curiously enough in this piece we heard an entirely different Thibaudet, for here he was a colorist and truly achieved some magical, lovely sounds that would have served him well in Debussy and Chopin. The second encore was a pleasant rendering of Debussy’s Clair de lune. Why do I have the impression that for Mr. Thibaudet much of Debussy and Chopin is for him dèja vue and that at this time in his performing career he is much more attuned to playing jazz on the piano?
The Carmel Music Society’s next concert will be the Moscow Chamber Orchestra on Monday, February 7.
