It was a full house at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall last night. The rows were filled to the back for the return to Australia of the highly popular French concert pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet presented by SSO, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. A specialist in the French repertoire, Thibaudet stands out as a true original. He adores being elegant and has a great love of fashion. This is not, however, designed to disguise any fault with his playing. Thibaudet entered the Paris Conservatoire to study at the meagre age of 12. Three years later, he won the Premier Prix du Conservatoire and later went on to win the Young Concert Artists’ Auditions in New York which launched his international career. Starting out early has allowed for many years on the road performing across the Western World and recording more than 50 albums.
Thibaudet is well known for his marvellous concert wardrobe, famously designed by close friend, the late British Designer, Vivienne Westwood. For us, he appeared in a gorgeous, steel blue and black shiny jacket, silk shirt, tapered trousers and soft shoes with sequinned toes that added a playful twist.
The music chosen for the recital was by Claude Debussy. As a nice link in, it was Westwood who designed the album cover for his 1996 Decca release of the Préludes Books 1 and 2. This recording is still considered one of the finest recordings of the completed Books.
We could feel how very familiar the compositions were for Thibaudet, even in the more technically difficult sections. Thibaudet played like he knows what he wants to say with each prélude. He has found what each one means to him. The playing was clear and concise. His sight line would often drift upstage where he could find some privacy and we were merely there to witness him performing for himself. This added an intimacy which felt like a privilege.
Sometimes, he toyed with the tempi to the point where the playing felt conversational and other times entirely contemporary. He has previously described the two book set as “an immersive journey” and “the perfect distillation” of Debussy’s revolutionary language.
Debussy composed the 24 Préludes between 1909 and 1913 – Book 1 in just two months (December 1909–February 1910) and Book 2 across 1912–1913. They are among the most unique piano works ever written, full of colour, atmosphere, and suggestion. Unlike Bach or Chopin, Debussy did not organise them by key. Instead, each prélude is a miniature tone-poem. It feels more like Pictures of an Exhibition, where you stroll between the pictures and might see something completely different or unrelated to the previous one.
Also interesting, Debussy placed the descriptive titles at the end of each prelude (after three dots), as if they were an afterthought — inviting the listener to discover the image rather than being told what to hear. Being composed so quickly, perhaps they naturally flowed from the composer’s hand and then the title came to him once each was complete.
Thibaudet told us after the concert that he first performed here in Australia around 1986 – 40 years ago “when I was 5” which drew a laugh. He completed the concert with encores “Salut d’Amour” Op. 12 by Elgar using a beautiful arrangement by Aldo Ciccolini. Then, the fiery “O Polichinelo” by Heitor Villa Lobos which might have easily been mistaken for a piece of Stravinsky.
The crowd loved the performance and gave hearty applause. We look forward to seeing him return again.
Related Links
More about Jean-Yves Thibaudet: https://www.jeanyvesthibaudet.com/
His recordings: https://www.discogs.com/artist/835977-Jean-Yves-Thibaudet
What are the next soloists in recital presented by SSO? https://www.sydneysymphony.com/search?q=in+recital
More about composer Debussy: https://www.claudedebussy.org/p/biography.html
