Maurice Ravel(1875-1937)
    Selected Piano Works

Le tombeau de Couperin
Gaspard de la nuit
Sonatine

MusicMasters 67172
Recorded 1998
Cecile Licad, Piano
TT 62:41

Summary:  Marginally Recommended

I first became acquainted with Cecile Licad quite a few years ago from
her Sony recording of Chopin and Saint-Saens piano concertos.  I've had
many hours of pleasure from that Sony disc and have been surprised that
Licad does not record more often.

MusicMasters did record her recital of Ravel works in the late 1990's.
Unlike most single-disc Ravel piano recordings, Licad has put all her eggs
in only three baskets.  Two of them, Le tombeau de Couperin and Gaspard de
la nuit, are among Ravel's most famous piano works.  The competition is
very strong and includes Gieseking, Roge, Thibaudet, Casadesus, Lortie,
Queffelec, Ousset, Hass, Simon, and Nojima.

I was hoping to be able to enthusiastically endorse Licad's disc, but
such is not the case.  The one word which I feel best describes Licad's
performances is 'yummy'.  Licad prefers to be smooth, delicate, sultry,
and luxurious.  This approach works well with pieces such as the 2nd
movement fugue and the Menuet from Le tombeau de Couperin.  However, its
appeal is limited when the music cries out for exuberance, excitement, or
detail.  Among many examples, her Prelude from Le tombeau does not deliver
sufficient animation or strength, her Toccata is much too subdued, and
"Ondine" suffers from a lack of urgency and poor representation of the
incessant double-notes.

Actually, "Ondine" is a perfect example of the essential elements missing
from Licad.  The tale concerns a water-nymph who seduces her prey and drags
them down to the bottom the sea.  With Licad, the story changes to one of
two lovers having a little tiff on their float a few feet from the shore.
Overall, Licad tells only part of the story.  Switch to Nojima on Reference
Recordings, and the piece's breadth opens up magnificently as Nojima has us
living the life of the mysterious underworld of the ocean.

Any great moments? Yes, her Menuet is the best I've heard on record.
Licad beautifully conveys the delicate and sultry nature of the music in
a luxuriating and very slow performance.  But one piece of music does not
make a great recording, and Licad often gives 'flat' readings of wonderful
music which deserves better.

Don's Conclusions:  Cecile Licad offers a limited picture of Ravel's
solo piano music, as she concentrates on smooth and sultry performances
to the exclusion of many other elements.  I do want to emphasize that
her readings are quite lovely and might be the perfect music for seducing
one's partner (assuming the partner is not alert).  I don't hear any
romanticizing of the music along the lines that Kyoko Tabe gives us on her
Debussy/Chandos disc; that's a good sign.  Ultimately, most of the other
recordings of Ravel(some mentioned above) are much more rewarding in that
they try to give us the full range of Ravel's musical world; Licad does
not.  Yet, there is virtue in 'yummy' performances, and Licad could be
very attractive to a particular segment of the classical music audience.

I checked into availability and found that the disc is still offered on
a few sales sites on the internet such as H & B Recordings.  The disc's
cover has a sultry and rich background which provides a good hint of what's
inside.  Recorded sound is in sync with the cover and the performances.

Don Satz
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