Debussy's music blossoms subtly and powerfully between Lidy Blijdorp and Julien Brocal

A Ode to Debussy Having it start with one of his latest compositions is a nice choice. Cellist Lidy Blijdorp and pianist Julien Brocal perform this programme to mark the centenary of the composer's death.

Latest strength

Debussy suffered from cancer for the last six years of his life. This disease made his life unbearably hard. Nevertheless, three years before his death, he conceived the plan to compose six sonatas for different instruments. He did not manage to complete the whole series of six. He stuck to three, including the cello sonata.

At the superb performance of this work by Lidy Blijdorp and Julien Brocal, you realise: in 1918, a composer who was still full of musical ideas died. He still had a lively desire to discover new possibilities of the style in which he composed. Blijdorp and Brocal strike exactly how measured Debussy chose his notes and yet gave them the freshness of spontaneous invasion.

Wealth of pizzicatos

Lidy Blijdorp and Julien Brocal are very well matched. They fully empathise with the music. Debussy's qualities are beautifully expressed. From the subtle softness of his sound paintings, a prodigious power emerges in short staccato notes and firm turns. The music with its many shades flourishes between these two musicians. Fascinating, for instance, is the richness Blijdorp manages to put into the numerous pizzicatos in the sonata. They are measured short notes. Yet Blijdorp extracts a huge range of expression from them, from hard hitting to darkly mysterious.

One

The sonata is followed by Syrinx, a piece Debussy originally wrote for solo flute. Hearing Lidy Blijdorp play this is a wonderful experience. She is completely at one with this music. She lets the sounds wander dreamily in the high space of the Amstelkerk. You see how she moves in the idyllic woods from the story of the god Pan and the nymph Syrinx.

Light composition

Just as at home in Debussy's music, Julien Brocal feels as he Feu d'artifice (= Fireworks) from the Préludes plays. It is stunning the way he releases a bright flare from the abundance of short notes each time, evoking the atmosphere of a light composition. As the piece progresses, he makes the flow of sound flow beautifully into robustly rolling waves with a dark timbre.

Significant contrast

To set Debussy's work against the background of his time, Blijdorp and Brocal also play works by contemporaries Gabriel Fauré and Federico Mompou and the forerunner Frédéric Chopin, who was important to Debussy. Compared to these composers, Debussy stands out in a special way. Après un rêve by Fauré, for instance, is lovingly played. The restrained atmosphere at the beginning of this work blossoms beautifully. But what is most striking about this caressing melody is the contrast with Debussy. This makes you realise even more how exciting and always unnatural his work is. At every turn of his music, you are curious to see what will develop from it.

Not only through beautiful playing, but also through this contrast, Debussy gets an ode in this programme that does fine justice to him.