Louis Lortie, Hélène Mercier pfs

Chandos

Benefitting from two warmly blended Bösendorfer 280 VC grands recorded in the responsive acoustic of Snape Maltings, this generously filled Debussy album programmes original duets with a clutch of persuasive third-party arrangements, crowned by André Caplet’s fantastical 1909 duo take on La mer. This is atmospheric repertoire that demands exceptional touch and pedalling to transform the piano into a kaleidoscopic messenger of dreams, intoxication and water-tinted half-lights.

Lortie and Mercier possess an enviable technical arsenal and rich expressive palette, allowing them to deliver a time-suspending experience replete with imagery. Intimate velvet tones, harmonic lushness and subtly graded dynamics come to the fore in interpretations that relish the music’s sensuously fragile mélodies and other-worldly phrasing.