Seong-Jin Cho – Debussy (2017) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Since the pianist’s early days, the South Korean Seong-Jin Cho (1994) has professed a fondness for French music in general and Debussy in particular. At his first public performance at the age of eleven, he played Children’s Corner by Debussy. When he decided, in 2012, to pursue his musical education abroad, he chose Paris, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur, where he frequented the classes of Michel Béroff, the undisputed expert on Debussy. Cho has come back to work again with his old teacher, who became a friend, with the aim of creating his own Debussy album; the choice of works here is “restricted” to works requiring a middling level of virtuosity – mechanical exhibition isn’t his thing, even though he has amply mastered his instrument – but whose poetical content allows the pianist to show off his own exquisite expertise as a musician. An homage to his own childhood, Children’s Corner, but also the two books ofImages and the exquisite Suite bergamasque. Let’s not forget that Seong-Jin Cho won Warsaw’s 2015 Chopin Prize, a sure-fire ticket to an international career.

Tracklist:
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
01. Debussy: Images I, L. 110-1. Reflets dans l’eau
02. Debussy: Images I, L. 110-2. Hommage à Rameau
03. Debussy: Images I, L. 110-3. Mouvement
04. Debussy: Images II, L. 111-1. Cloches à travers les feuilles
05. Debussy: Images II, L. 111-2. Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
06. Debussy: Images II, L. 111-3. Poissons d’or
07. Debussy: Children’s Corner, L. 113-1. Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum
08. Debussy: Children’s Corner, L. 113-2. Jimbo’s Lullaby
09. Debussy: Children’s Corner, L. 113-3. Serenade For The Doll
10. Debussy: Children’s Corner, L. 113-4. The Snow Is Dancing
11. Debussy: Children’s Corner, L. 113-5. The Little Shepherd
12. Debussy: Children’s Corner, L. 113-6. Golliwog’s Cakewalk
13. Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L. 75-1. Prélude
14. Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L. 75-2. Menuet
15. Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L. 75-3. Clair de lune
16. Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L. 75-4. Passepied
17. Debussy: L’isle joyeuse, L. 106