The choice of a French composer is fitting, representing Ilic's newly adopted home in France. The 28-year-old American pianist is currently living in Paris when he is not traveling the world on tour.
The Debussy Album
Ilic's playing is clean and precise. The temptation when playing Debussy is to hold the pedal indefinitely, till all the harmonics blend together into a hazy mush. But not so with Ilic. Each note is distinct, treated as a separate point in a shimmering constellation of sound.
The album covers both books of Debussy's Preludes, including such standard favorites as "Sails," "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair," and "The Sunken Cathedral" from Book I and "Ondine" and "Homage to S. Pickwick, Esq." (a tribute to Dickens' eccentric character and containing a quote from the British national anthem) from Book II.
A Different Order
However, Ilic doesn't always follow the more traditional order, instead choosing to begin the album with "The Hills of Anacapri" rather than with "The Dancers of Delphi" and ending the first set with "The Sunken Cathedral" rather than with "Minstrels."
A complete track listing is as follows:
Book I
- Les collines d'Anacapri (The Hills of Anacapri)
- Voiles (Veils or sails)
- La danse de Puck (Puck's Dance)
- Des pas sur la neige (Footsteps in the Snow)
- La sérénade interrompue (Interrupted Serenade)
- Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir (The sounds and fragrances swirl through the evening air)
- Le vent dans la plaine (The Wind on the Plain)
- Danseuses de Delphes (Dancers of Delphi
- Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest (What the West Wind has seen)
- Minstrels
- La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair)
- La cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral)
Book II
- Général Lavine - eccentric
- Feuilles mortes (Dead Leaves)
- Ondine (Undine)
- Canope (Canopic jar)
- Les tierces alternées (Alternating Thirds)
- La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (The Terrace of Moonlit Audiences)
- Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. (Homage to S. Pickwick)
- La Puerta del Vino (The Wine Gate)
- Brouillards (Mists)
- Bruyères (Heather)
- Les Fées sont d'exquises danseuses ("Fairies are exquisite dancers")
- Feux d'artifice (Fireworks)
An American Mathematician in Paris
Ilic's began his music studies at the age of 6, making his recital debut at age 11. Later, he earned degrees in music and mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. After he excelled at Berkeley, the University sent him off to Paris with a Hertz Travelling Fellowship. He attended the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, where he received a Premier Prix in piano.
Given his eclectic studies and world travel, Ilic is described as achieving a "unique blend of a Gallic touch, a Slavic soul and a mathematician's precision."
Sources
Liner notes. "Claude Debussy: Préludes pour piano, Livres 1 et 2." Released by Paraty, 2006.
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