Search - Claude Debussy, Simon Lepper, Gillian Keith :: Debussy: Early Songs

Very pretty and with the virtues of that prettiness

Ingrid Heyn | Melbourne, Australia | 05/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gillian Keith's voice is a young very pretty light soprano, with ease in the top notes and considerable agility. She brings all of that plus her very good French to this recording of often unrepresented Debussy songs - some rarities indeed of Debussy's early vocal compositions.



Accompanist Simon Lepper is marvellous. He plays like limpid streams of water - transparent, beautiful, full of movement and colour and reflections.



Where this album falls for me is in the vocal interpretation. What I hear is sound - very pretty sound, but not a remarkable facility for interpretation. I feel the phrasing is musical but perfunctory, so that many times a moment of significance is lost because it is not phrased with more feeling. And while the voice is (as I said) very pretty, and the top notes are sung with ease, it does seem to me that some of those top notes are slightly pinched... a little white and not quite matching the rest of the voice. But this is a minor criticism - from what I can see, Ms Keith has plenty of time to develop her technique further, and it's always a pretty sound and with such a lovely line of clarity.



It's charming to listen to, and if I was left wanting a little more, it doesn't detract from the prettiness of it. I think this will please many listeners. Recommended."