Technically Tharaud is unfazed by the terrors of ‘Scarbo’ or the ‘Toccata’ of Tombeau de Couperin. He also understands the importance of the regular dance rhythms that inform so much of this music and his rubato is of the slightest, just enough to allow breathing space. But in the Sonatine I find his pedalling a touch intrusive, the piece’s classicism unduly romanticised.
What I like about Tharaud’s is his rhythmic verve in ‘Scarbo’ and ‘Alborada del gracioso’, yet the poetry he finds in ‘Le Gibet’, ‘Noctuelles’ and even the overplayed Pavane is magical. Harmonia Mundi’s acoustic is a little more resonant, too. If Tharaud’s versions do not displace Hewitt’s, they work beautifully and I could live with both on my shelves, which is what I will do.
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