Interpretation ******      Sound *****      Repertoire ******

“… Despax is fluent and totally convincing throughout. Recommended.”

“…Despax opens with a really lovely transcription of Après un rêve… Despax and his Fazioli produce a luxurious, quasi organo tone that ravishes the ear…”

“… Despax can transform his sound and his outlook with remarkable dexterity; and whatever the spirit of the music … he conveys it with confidence and, when necessary, bravaura (check out Ravel’s ‘Scarbo’, frighteningly detailed).

“… Despax has recorded Bach, Brahms, Chopin, but the works here particularly suit his sensibility. In Maurice Ravel’s haunting masterpiece Gaspard de la Nuit, he masters the ferocious challenges with ease, delicacy, strength… “

“… in Poulenc’s Soirées de Nazelles Despax convinces with such imagination that he outshines other recordings …  A beautifully played Clair de Lune by Debussy is followed by the virtuosically performed Danse Macabre. An all in all good and exciting interpretation of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit (the highlight here is Scarbo’s dramatically excited version) leads Duparc’s Aux étoiles, which brings the CD to an atmospheric close.” ****