The most difficult and prophetic pieces of the Second Book (Pour les agreements, Pour les arpèges composes, Pour les accords) have rarely been performed with such natural ease, native elegance and clarity. “As if from far off, but limpid and joyful”, wrote Debussy in the margin next to the Balinese band theme in the tenth Etude, subtitled Pour les Sonates opposes. This is how one imagines François Chaplin at his own piano, as well as practicing for the recording on Debussy’s own instrument, now part of the collections of the Labenche museum in Brive-la-Gaillarde. He achieves just the right balance between distance, refinement and quiet exhilaration for Debussy’s eminently aristocratic works. This fifth volume crowns Chaplin’s recording of Debussy’s complete works. Along with Philippe Cassard’s rendition, it takes pride of place in the recent Debussy discography. (Gilles Macassar, Télérama, 14 December 2005)