Debussy's Preludes

[Baron Scarpia]

Graduated to Book II, started with Monique Haas' Erato set, which ended with a letdown (clumsy edits in the last prelude in the set, Fireworks). Quite good, overall. Will follow up tonight with another set, not sure which, maybe Thibaudet or Aimard. Maybe I will return to Dino Ciani. I also recalled that I have the complete Debussy set from Fergis-Thompson on ASV (now re-issued on Brilliant, I think). I really enjoyed that set when I listened to it, years ago. Maybe time to bring it out again. Too many choices...

Decided to spring for the Lasry set, partly due to attraction to the idea of a period piano. Also considered Cassard, re-issued on Decca, but was not attracted to samples I heard on-line.

[Baron Scarpia]

Based on samples, the Livia Rev set seems beautiful.  Comments?

[Mirror Image]

Based on samples, the Livia Rev set seems beautiful.  Comments?

I know Dancing Divertimentian really likes the Rev set, but I can't comment on it as I haven't heard any of her performances.

[Daverz]

I assume part of the interest in Livia Rev is that she died recently.  Her dates were impressive, 5 July 1916 – 28 March 2018.

[Mirror Image]

I assume part of the interest in Livia Rev is that she died recently.  Her dates were impressive, 5 July 1916 – 28 March 2018.

This could very well be the case. I never heard of her until I heard Karlo (North Star) talk about her and then Dancing Divertimentian mentioned her as well.

On another subject, I do know one thing that is for sure: I couldn't be without Jacobs and Kocsis in Debussy.

[Mandryka]

Based on samples, the Livia Rev [hyperion]  set seems beautiful.  Comments?

It makes me think of spiders' webs with dew, gossamer light and fragile, colourful sound and natural phrasing.

[Baron Scarpia]

I assume part of the interest in Livia Rev is that she died recently.  Her dates were impressive, 5 July 1916 – 28 March 2018.

No, I was not aware of that, I just came across the set while browsing Hyperion's web site and listened to a few samples, which I found interesting.

[amw]

Has anyone compared Livia Rev's set on Hyperion with her earlier one on SAGA?

[Mandryka]

In the Preludes Book 1, in the Hyperion she gives the impression of indulging more in the resonances of the piano sound, in the Saga things move forward. Hyperion captured the piano sound really well. I can send you some of the Saga Debussy if you want, I have Preludes I and Etudes. I have a friend who's a pianist who knew her, he moved in her milieu when she was in London in the 1960s, he rates the Saga material very highly, he thinks that at her best she was the equal of Moiseiwitsch and Michelangeli. I'm just not enough of a pianophile to agree or disagree.

[Baron Scarpia]

For what it's worth, just got the Livia Rev Debussy set as a lossless download from the Hyperion web site.

[amw]

I have the complete Saga set somewhere, in digital form, but haven't listened to most of it due to a severe lack of interest in Debussy in recent months. I rate her pretty highly but wouldn't necessarily make those specific comparisons, though I can see what he means.

[zamyrabyrd]

Thanks for the heads-up on Lívia Rév, what a nice discovery! (I know these are not preludes, but they show her Debussy style. She plays Chopin beautifully, too.)

https://www.youtube.com/v/U5B26aCe-Vw

https://www.youtube.com/v/R8102N0z0Co

[Karl Henning]

Chopin and Debussy have subtle synergies.

[North Star]

Chopin and Debussy have subtle synergies.

Indeed... quoth Madame de Fleurville, who was Debussy's piano teacher: "If we draw a parallel between Chopin's sound effects and certain techniques of painting, we could say that this great virtuoso modulated sound much as skilled painters treat light and atmosphere. To envelop melodic phrases and ingenious arabesques in a half-tint which has something of both dream and reality: this is the pinnacle of art; and this was Chopin's art." (1878)


Marguerite Long's memoirs of her work with Debussy 1914 & '17: "Chopin, above all, was a subject he never tired of. He was impregnated, almost inhabited, by [Chopin's] pianism. His own playing was an exploration of all he felt were the procedures of that master to us all.     [Debussy] played nearly always in half-tints, but with full, intense sonority without any hardness of attack, like Chopin, and was preoccupied by the latter's phrasing . . .
'Chopin is the greatest of them all', [Debussy] used to say, 'for through the piano alone he discovered everything'.

And Debussy was planning to edit a new complete edition of Chopin before he died.

[Mandryka]

I think that the Reflets dans l'eau from Rev is nice  -- it's the one on Hyperion -- I don't know if she recorded it for Saga  -- the thing I've been told is really special by hear -- I have the recording but I've never played it -- is Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words.

[North Star]

I think that the Reflets dans l'eau from Rev is nice  -- it's the one on Hyperion -- I don't know if she recorded it for Saga

She recorded the complete works on Saga.

[snyprrr]

Where is the Rest of Debussy's Piano Music Thread? I must admit I enjoyed the Preludes the least of all his PM up to that point. I mean,... I'm just enjoying hearing the Ballade and Nocturne for the first time ever, and the Images2, and the first two discs in any five disc survey,The Early Works.


The more I listen to this Martin Jones Nimbus set the less the Nimbus sound bothers me...

[Dancing Divertimentian]

This could very well be the case. I never heard of her until I heard Karlo (North Star) talk about her and then Dancing Divertimentian mentioned her as well.

I have one disc from Rev's Hyperion set (Preludes II and Images II). How she manages to play these works so "straight" yet keep the engagement level so high has always been a mystery to me. I can't stop listening to her whenever I put her on, but admittedly I probably reach for others first.

Has anyone compared Livia Rev's set on Hyperion with her earlier one on SAGA?

I have Rev's Saga set. It's similar in approach to her Hyperion near-set but with a touch more vivacity (it's a decade earlier), although the recorded sound isn't quite as good. I'm probably most fond of her Études. They seem to fit her "straight-ahead" style superbly.



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[Mandryka]

[asin]B001B9W3FO[/asin]

I got all excited because it looks as though it's downloadable, but when you click on the link it's for some Liszt!

[North Star]

I got all excited because it looks as though it's downloadable, but when you click on the link it's for some Liszt!

It should still be on Symphonyshare.