Fifty shades of Debussy: Philippe Cassard’s masterclass

By Mark Pullinger, 28 December 2015

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“a Gallic shrug and an impish grin”

Reviewed at Wigmore Hall, London on 27 December 2015

Debussy, Estampes: Pagodes

Debussy, Étude no. 3 pour les quartes

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 2 no. 3: La Puerta del Vino

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 1 no. 9: La sérénade interrompue

Debussy, Estampes: La Soirée dans Grenade

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 1 no. 5: Les Collines d'Anacapri

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 1 no. 4: Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir

Debussy, Apparition

Debussy, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (trans. Borwick/Cassard)

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 1 no. 1: Danseuses de Delphes

Debussy, Images, Set 2 no. 2: Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, for piano

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 2 no. 7: La Terrasse des audiences du clair de lune

Debussy, Six Épigraphes antiques: Pour l'égyptienne

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 1 no. 11: La Danse de Puck

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 2 no. 9: Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C.

Debussy, Children's Corner: Golliwog's Cakewalk

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 2 no. 6: Général Lavine - eccentric

Debussy, L'Isle joyeuse, Op.26

Philippe Cassard, Piano

Philippe Cassard dons his dancing shoes

Mark Pullinger, 20th November

Waltzing on a Monday evening? Wigmore Hall is not exactly the Tower Ballroom, but last night it did a fair impression as a temple of dance when Philippe Cassard played the third of his Debussy Perspectives series.

****1

Wigmore Hall englouti: Philippe Cassard

Mark Pullinger, 29th October

“Wigmore Hall is flooded now!” confessed Philippe Cassard. It was Claude Debussy who left the tap running, with every form of precipitation – rain, snow, fog – pouring from the Steinway's keyboard, trickling from fountain, springing from river beds.

*****

Effect over Substance in Natalie Dessay's Montreal art song recital

Marc Wieser, 1st March

Natalie Dessay’s recital at the Maison Symphonique last night should have been an art song lover’s dream come true. Instead the audience was treated to a bizarre spectacle of over-expression and under-singing.

**111

Quatre pianistes près des jardins de Giverny

Alain Lompech, 24th May

Le petit festival de piano organisé par Vanessa Wagner dans le bel auditorium en bois clair du Musée des impressionnismes de Giverny a mis à l'honneur quatre pianistes remarquables.

****1

Haydn cherche son trésor : L'Isola disabitata à l'Opéra de Clermont

Roland Duclos, 3rd February

Réduit au piano et privé de sa fameuse ouverture par Philippe Cassard, l'opéra de Haydn perd un peu de son âme mais bénéficie heureusement d'un quatuor vocal inspiré.

***11

La Fantastique très classique de Hengelbrock au Festival Berlioz

Philippe Ramin, 31st August

La symphonie emblématique du compositeur de La Côte-Saint-André a bénéficié de l'engagement d'un bel Orchestre National de France, malheureusement émoussé par la direction de Thomas Hengelbrock.

**111

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Fifty shades of Debussy: Philippe Cassard’s masterclass in colour and rhythm