MUSIC REVIEW : A Vigorous Piano Recital by Collard

Jean-Philippe Collard is a pianist who comes right at you. Forget the circuitous routes of reverie and elegance; forget wafting perfumes, delicate nuances and dappled colors. Think bright, brash, clear and forward.

But this much-recorded French musician is not without art. There were subtleties in his recital Wednesday night in Bing Theater at the L.A. County Art Museum; they just weren’t generally of the poetic variety, even where one might expect it, as in the music of Poulenc and Faure.

His interpretation of these composers was singular in its avoidance of refinement for its own sake. His Poulenc set--the Pastourelle, the Presto, the Three Novelettes and the Toccata--became the joy of the evening, curt, witty and full-blooded. One heard the wonderful construction of Poulenc’s phrases, their clauses, asides and main points. The tunes were belted, not dandified. The virtuosity whizzed.

Although it was easy to appreciate his urgent and ravishing way with Faure--the Barcarolles, Opus 26 and 70, Impromptu, Opus 31 and Ballade--the simplicity and calm some find in this music was missed. Collard’s constant sculpting and complex voicing sounded too high-strung and occasionally pushed.

With a brilliant, formidable technique on display all evening, Collard jacked it up a notch in three Preludes and then, especially, the Sonata No. 2 by Rachmaninoff. As little as one may think of the piece (overwrought and overwritten are apt adjectives; Rachmaninoff even attempted to tone it down), the agitated athleticism of Collard’s playing, the huge sound he created without losing clarity, demanded admiration.

And emotionally it flew. There were sections in the second movement and finale that jumped off the page. Collard left nothing in reserve and appeared out of breath by the end. It just seemed a shame that he hadn’t used all that energy on a better piece.