Music Reviews : Collard in Recital at South Bay

As he has proved in at least eight visits since his debut here in 1978, Jean-Philippe Collard is a pianist of so many admirable qualities that one always regrets finding his performances mystifying. Returning Thursday, the French musician brought another challenging program, and mystified again.

Marsee Auditorium at the South Bay Center for the Arts drew a large number of Collard fans for this recital of music by Faure, Ravel and Chopin. By and large, they should not have been disappointed.

But as always they might have been skeptical. A pianist with a huge repertory, Collard often seems to avoid specialization, and with good reason: He seldom proves completely at home in the music of any one composer.

This time, his Chopin held interest, but not through ideally realized performances. Collard achieved many felicitous, pertinent, even touching moments in the A-flat Ballade, two Nocturnes, three Waltzes and the C-sharp-minor Scherzo, yet never convinced one that Chopin’s music, and its style, belong to him.

Best of the lot was the A-minor Waltz, which for once received the penetrating, poetic and thoughtful attention it deserves. Yet, the Scherzo, for all of Collard’s accuracy, seemed indifferent.

Because the pianist’s cool manner suits music that needs clarity more than interpretation, Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit,” emerged most successful in this program. It can stand dissection, even gains from it.

At the beginning of the evening, Faure’s Theme and Variations in C-sharp minor needed more advocacy than the pianist seemed willing to give. At the end, there was a little bit of defrosting in Collard’s encore, the G-major Prelude, Opus 32, No. 5, by Rachmaninoff.