A nice way to start the year

[Todd]

Jean Efflam Bavouzet is a reliable, and extremely talented pianist.  His Ravel and Debussy are superb, comparable to the best available.  His Haydn is excellent, and even his Liszt and Bartok ain't none too shabby.  So it was with high expectations that I bought this disc of Debussy and Ravel's piano concertos and some solo works by Massenet. 

The Debussy is quite nice, with splendid playing by Bavouzet, and gorgeous and delicate playing from the orchestra.  It doesn't match my fave, Gieseking & Schroeder, but it's none too shabby.  A bit better, comparatively speaking, is the Ravel, especially the Concerto for Left Hand.  Bavouzet's playing is stylish and effortess, and fits the music.  Tortelier's conducting is pretty good, too.  Again, it doesn't match my favorite, Zimerman & Boulez here, but it's high grade stuff.  The Massenet pieces are attractive and wonderfully played, and make a nice encore.  Hopefully all discs I buy this year are at least this good.