Rafal Blechacz & Bomsori Kim Faure, Debussy, Szymanowski, Chopin Import 2LP

It seems that Blechacz has done well to find Kim, too, because there's an audible meeting of musical minds across their exploration of French lyricism and Polish melancholy, heard right from the start of the opening Fauré Violin Sonata No 1. First, Blechacz's picked-out melody sings out brightly with passionate amour from within lucid-textured cascading figures. Then in comes Kim, counterfoiling her equal romance with a clean, supple sound. Engineering-wise, as well, there's a nicely egalitarian balance between the two of them. What does remain constant, is the sheer energy and drive, aided by Kim's sound itself: direct and ardent, with mahogany-hued lower registers contrasting with sweetly ringing, singing upper ones. This all combines to especial effect with the Debussy, in an unusually driven, emotional-ly strong reading of this autumnal work. One of Kim's most effective gifts here is her spotlighting of Debussy's linguistic debt to the Orient; listen in the first movement to how grace-note inflections and sur la touche playing is so very husky and languorous that the parallels with Asian voice flute are unmissable. (Gramophone)