Music Review - Jean-Yves Thibaudet - At Carnegie, Infusing Ravel With German Romantic Flourishes - NYTimes.com Ravel has always figured prominently in Jean-Yves Thibaudet's repertory, both on disc and in concert. Mr. Thibaudet, the French pianist, has been a less frequent visitor to the music of Brahms, though he has hardly ignored it. Lately Mr. Thibaudet has seemed interested in expanding his repertory, or, perhaps more accurately, his reputation as an interpreter of works not usually associated with him. Jean-Yves Thibaudet: The French pianist, a specialist in Ravel, played works by that composer and Brahms at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday. So for his Carnegie Hall recital on Tuesday he devoted the first half of his program to Ravel and the second half to Brahms, as if he were introducing his listeners to a new interest, but first reminding them why they have admired him for so long. Much of Mr. Thibaudet's Ravel seemed more assertive than it had been on past hearings. He began with the "Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte," in a reading that opened in the rhythmically square style you hear on Ravel's own recording of the piece, and slowly melted into a supple essay with a bittersweet, singing line. The five movements of "Miroirs" were each beautifully characterized, with "Noctuelles" couched in fluid, sparkling textures, and "Oiseaux Tristes" in contrastingly dark-hued, gauzy timbres. Mr. Thibaudet had "Une Barque sur l'Océan" navigate faster-moving waters than usual, but he was at his most vivid in the rhythmically vital, Spanish-accented "Alborada del Gracioso." Mr. Thibaudet's Brahmsian calling card was the Sonata No. 3 in F minor (Op. 5), and in the opening bars - and later, at the start of the Scherzo - he made a point of emphasizing the score's explosive, German Romantic grandeur. Producing a huge sound is not a problem for Mr. Thibaudet. Even in Ravel and other French music, which is supposedly more delicately nuanced, he often magnifies the dynamic range and the underlying drama, as he did in "Alborada del Gracioso." But Brahms's large gestures tripped him up momentarily; a few passages early in the Allegro Maestoso sounded tentative. He recovered from them quickly enough that you wondered if that slight sense of distraction was a deliberate effect (however puzzling). The rest of the work flowed more smoothly, and at the beginning of the Andante, Mr. Thibaudet's soft textures and subtle coloration made Brahms's harmonies and gestures sound fleetingly Ravelian. It was a personal view, and you could have quibbles about his balances or turns of phrase. But this was a thoughtful reading that offered a compelling glimpse at the continual expansion and contraction that drives Brahms's piano music. As an encore Mr. Thibaudet gave a lovely account of Brahms's Intermezzo in A (Op. 118, No. More Articles in Arts " A version of this article appeared in print on December 17, 2009, on page C3 of the New York edition.