It was announced as a concert by French pianist Elodie Vignon, introduced by Italian musicologist Andrea Malvano, both experts on Debussy.That it was not.
Malvano was unable to attend, Vignon was there and would then speak about her great idol herself. And yes, why not if you have recently released a double CD titled "Monsieur Debussy". Then you should know everything about that composer and want to tell about it.
For the performer in a CD review, superlatives are often brought up, for the composer usually an honorable mention suffices. But that is surely too little for Claude Debussy. What did that Frenchman not mean for the evolution of music in his time? We often hear it claimed that Stravinsky, especially with his "Sacre du printemps", was the pacesetter of modernism in music history. But was it not rather contemporary Debussy who, with his new, uncharted sounds, caused the break in that history? Certainly and surely, says our pianist: "Le Sacre was 1913, Debussy with his "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" was already 1894. For Boulez, that is the first piece in the advance toward modernism. With it, music took a different turn, music became intuitive, you are immersed in a new universe, there is no story anymore, his music awakens all the senses and challenges your imagination, you smell the scents, you feel the waves gliding over you, the snow crunching under your feet, mist and fog embrace you, you hear nature…" You hear Elodie Vignon play it that way too, very concentrated, without sweeping gestures, almost unmoved, but with great intensity and virtuosity.
Although it is still afternoon in the intimate hall of the Instrumentenmuseum, "Les sons et les parfums qui tournent dans l'air du soir" are indeed brought delightfully to life at the piano. Vignon scatters, almost improvisationally and languorously, loose notes into that evening atmosphere. It comes from the first book of "Préludes" whose title is derived from a line of poetry by Baudelaire. A small gem of just a couple of minutes. Other small gems glimmer and glisten, such as "Les poissons d'or" from his "Images". A brilliant little work, brilliantly played. You need no imagination to immediately feel immersed as a playful fish in turbulent water. It is also one of many miniatures from her newly published double album "Monsieur Debussy".
In her concert program there was room for two other composers. First a piece of Chopin, whose sensitive piano music was often an inspiration for Debussy: pure sound poetry with that immediately recognizable Chopin idiom. Vignon plays it very restrainedly, without any exuberance. Then came a tribute to Albeniz, both professionally and personally an intimate friend of Debussy. It was also wonderful to see and hear how subtly the pianist dealt with the pedals to make all those beautiful sounds resonate. She could not illustrate this better than by letting us hear the variety of possibilities from his "Children's Corner": abrupt syncopations, quiet nuances, cheerful melodies, those lively "cake-walk" pieces.
Finally came of course that well-known "Claire de Lune" from his "Suite bergamasque". A "hit" that you find and hear everywhere? Yes, but hits are simply successful pieces, a hit, in short of the best. But what a credit to Madame Vignon to also draw attention to all that lesser-known work for solo piano of "Monsieur Debussy", the first album of an integral edition of that oeuvre.