With two critically-lauded releases on Navona Records (Notturno, performing works by Chopin, and a four-CD box set, Beethoven: 8 Concerti) pianist Eliane Rodrigues returns with Reflets, showcasing the pianist’s nuanced and thoughtful performances of fifteen works by Claude Debussy...

I loved Eliane Rodrigues piano skills on her previous Navona Records recordings (Notturno, Beethoven: 8 Concerti) and I was interested to hear which of Debussy's pieces she chose for Reflets.

You can listen to numerous performances of a piece of classical music and each time it will be different. For me, the moment that I knew I was listening to one of the best recordings was with the familiar 'Clair de Lune'. I think I've got about a half dozen albums with various pianists performing this piece - not to mention the times when I've heard it in bookstores, cafes or other public places. But this was the first time I really heard it and it provoked an emotional response. Rodrigues's playing is subtle, where it needs to be and forceful in other parts. It's crystal clear, to anyone who knows this piece, that the pianist isn't just playing it, she's feeling every single note: pouring her soul into the performance. And that makes for a truly magical listening experience.

But then this won't come as any surprise to those that purchased her previous recordings. And this standard of performance is uniform across all the recordings on this album. It's pretty obvious that Rodrigues knows these pieces off by heart, thanks to years of playing, or has researched them intensely and thrown herself into each one.

Those purchasing the digital album will be treated to additional tracks (the 6-movement suite Children's Corner), which for me was one of the highlights of the recording.

Track listing:

Suite Bergamasque (1890 – 1905)
01 - Prélude. Moderato (Tempo rubato)
02 - Menuet. Andantino
03 - Clair de lune. Andante très expressif
04 - Passepied. Allegretto ma non troppo

05 - Ballade (slave) (1890 – 1903)

Pour Le Piano (1896 – 1903)
06 - Prélude. Assez animé et très rythmé
07 - Sarabande. Avec un élégance grave et lente
08 - Toccata. Vif

09 - Arabesque No. 1 in E major Andantino con moto (1888 – 1891)

Images Book 1 (1905)
10 - Reflets dans l’eau (Reflections in the Water). Andantino molto
11 - Hommage á Rameau (Tribute to Rameau). Lent et grave
12 - Mouvement (Movement). Animé

Images Book 2 (1907)
13 - Cloches à travers les feuilles – (mélancolie diffuse)
(Bells Through the Leaves - diffuse melancholy). Lent
14 - Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fût
(And the Moon Sets over the Temple That Was). Lent
15 - Poissons d’or (Goldfish). Animé

Digital - Bonus Tracks

Children's Corner
I. Doctor Gradus ad Parrnassum
II. Jimbo's Lullaby
III. Serenade of the Doll
IV. The Snow is Dancing
V. The Little Shepherd
VI. Golliwoog's Cakewalk

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Darren Rea