Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Debussy: Complete works for pianoChandos *****

French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's Chandos recorded the piano music of Debussy, between 2006 and 2009. There were showered with awards and are now collected as a special-priced set. Bavouzet's playing is both robust and refined, muscularity always balanced by sensitivity, and the adaptability of his tone between firmness and cushioning is first-rate. Impressionistic effects don't need to be in any way woolly. There are those who argue that modern music began with Debussy, and there's a freshness in the playing that suggests Bavouzet would concur. The set runs to all the works for solo piano (but not those for more than one player), and includes a number of pieces and arrangements you won't find readily elsewhere. url.ie/f1f2