Images / Masques 34

In this new album, Cathy Krier takes an original step and goes entirely against the grain of her previous programmatic approach. In her two most recent albums she had juxtaposed the apparently divergent styles of Rameau and Ligeti, or Liszt vs. Berg/Shoenberg, uncovering astounding new connections among them. The current release now takes the opposite path. At first glance, Claude Debussy- the inventor of musical Impressionism- and Karol Szymanowski- often called the 'Polish Impressionist'- would seem to have much in common. Both composers even use the same title in French: Masques (masks). Cathy Krier affirms, nevertheless, that she is much more interested in the differences one can observe between these two works written roughly during the same period. This listening experience is thus enriched thanks to a new, fascinating aesthetical perspective. "Krier steers her own path between sentimental and spiky, with a bright, forthright tone and an approach that underlines the music's depth to Schumann and Brahms." (Boston Globe)