Sonatine, M.40
Menuet sur le nom de Haydn, M.58
Valses nobles et sentimentales, M.61
Menuet Antique, M.17
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Le Tombeau de Couperin, M.68

From the baroque period composers like Rameau, Daquin, Couperin ... to present day composers, I've always found French classical music to be highly animated, motivated by dance and always in a state of flux. For example, despite being slow and melancholy, even the Pavane pour une infante défunte by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is in constant motion, as if carried forward on a limpid stream. And it's very much this dynamic state of animation that French pianist Clément Lefebvre reveals here in a finely detailed and expressive account.

Under his clear and refined articulation and phrasing, it's as if every single note plays a key role in any given piece's forward development. This also helps to fully explore and exploit Ravel's innovative and quirky harmonic language. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the volatile Animé movement of the Sonatine. Lefebvre brings out all of its delicate filigree and sparkle. The Prélude from Le Tombeau de Couperin very much brings to mind the Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum movement from Claude Debussy's "Children's Corner Suite" with its forward momentum, which Lefebvre delivers with quicksilver finesse with each and every note once again in perfect dynamic balance with the next. He also well projects the stylized ornamentation within the Forlane movement meant to depict Couperin's writing for the harpsichord. And Lefebvre's pinpoint accuracy and dynamic precision serve him well in his blazing account of the Toccata, where subtle gradations of expression always trump technique.