Alexandre Tharaud

Pianist Tharaud is a chameleon, able to change his persona from composer to composer and era to era, yet always remaining the same detailed musician through it all. Embracing a wide range of repertoire, he gracefully turns in distinctive Bach and Chopin, making old Sebastian sound mercurial and Frederic pleasantly unhinged, all without impinging on the music’s formal design. He can do it with unfamous composers, too, though good luck finding a copy of his out-of-print 2000 recording of Albert Roussel’s Piano Concerto from 1927.

Here, Tharaud turns his attention to François Couperin, the great 17th-century keyboard composer who worked in the court of Louis XVI. Rather than complete performances of Couperin’s multimovement collections titled Ordres, though, Tharaud picks and chooses a program of playful pieces, a few of which turn up as encores in his recitals. Maybe it’s not the most soul-plumbing album ever, but an hour-long delight is quite an accomplishment.

Many of these pieces aim to evoke specific images, from bells to war. Le Carillon de Cithére shows off Tharaud’s ability to create ethereal ripples in the piano’s upper register, with the tolling bells of the title quietly played in lower octaves. The zippy title track features his blinding virtuosity as he dashes through the cross-hands difficulty and fast, repeated chords.

Tharaud’s ornaments are within the bounds of good taste, and as cleanly played as can be expected. The evenness of his trills will set pianists to practicing.— Marc Geelhoed