Debussy's Preludes

[Herman]

Funny, while making an attempt to rearrange some cd shelves, a couple of weeks ago, I hit upon Jacques Rouvier's Debussy, too, not in the boxset, but a couple of seperate cd's, and immediately I thought, too, this is a great way to play the Preludes. Masculine and sensitive, with humor and mystery.

[RJR]

All of you should get a hold of the Welte-Mignon piano roll recording of Debussy playing Debussy. You'll be in for a shock.
It's over 80 minutes long, so there are lots of goodies to mull over.

[RJR]

Claudio Arrau, Jorge Bolet, Jean-Philippe Collard, Moniqe Haas, Aldo Ciccolini, to name a few more.

[George]

Claudio Arrau...

Yes, Arrau's Debussy is wonderful. 

[Oldnslow]

The Colin Mathews complete orchestrations of the Preludes have recently  been released on the Halle Orchestra's label as a two-fer---they are beautifully written and performed, and provide an interesting alternative to the piano versions of these great pieces.

[RJR]

Yes, Arrau's Debussy is wonderful. 

You can even hear him breathing on occasion.

[FideLeo]

From the recording mentioned above, in Philippe Cassard he plays a Bechstein grand piano, 1900

"la cathédrale engloutie"

http://www.youtube.com/v/CMkgA0g4I0Y

"pagodes"

http://www.youtube.com/v/UNRYNCcdNUg

[George]

You can even hear him breathing on occasion.

Yes, I notice it on the Chopin Nocturnes by him as well.

[PaulSC]

New Debussy recordings by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Angela Hewitt, and Philippe Bianconi are out next week.

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[Todd]

HIP Debussy Preludes.  Hiroko Sasaki uses an 1873 Pleyel for her recording, and the results are partly ear-opening.  Here is hammerless Debussy in most of its glory.  The sound is not like a Steinway.  The piano has excellent dynamics - though it can't match a Steinway D - and it lacks the brilliant, bright colors of a modern piano, but the color palette is most attractive, and it is a perfect fit for Debussy's music.  Sasaki's playing is obviously thoroughly prepared and well played, with nary a note out of place, but her penchant for speed, sans Gieseking's effortlessness and insouciance (I'm referring to the 30s recordings), and her unyielding seriousness, without Michelangeli's or Zimerman's absolute command of every aspect of playing, result in an excellent but not world beating disc.  Of course, it is perhaps a bit unfair to compare Ms Sasaki to three of the greatest pianists of the last hundred years, but the comparisons are ultimately inevitable. 

A couple things popped into my mind while listening.  First, I would love to hear Michel Beroff, probably my preferred living Debussy pianist, play some Debussy, namely the Estampes and Etudes, on this instrument.  That could be completely ear-opening, if you will.  Second, this instrument is the perfect one for Faure's piano music.  I hope someone who makes recordings agrees and can make that happen.  I can already imagine what the Barcarolles might sound like.

[Oldnslow]

I very much enjoy Alexie Lubimov's Debussy Preludes on an early piano on ECM

[Todd]

Jean-Rodolphe Kars playing Debussy's Preludes, Fantaisie, and some Messiaen.  This is even better than Kars' Schubert.  Kars' slightly soft edged sound in the Debussy never really sounds hammerless, but nor does it sound hard.  Kars' rubato and dynamic gradations are unique and perfectly judged, and his tempo choices are sometimes conventional, sometimes a bit quick, and sometimes a bit slow like in Danseuses de Delphes and La cathedrale engloutie.  In the latter, one of the main pieces I focus on when listening to the Preludes, Kars does indeed achieve a sense of Profondement Calme, the over eight minute timing revealing more of that meditative goodness first experienced in Kars' Schubert.  The second book of Preludes opens with the haziest, slowest Brouillards I've heard, and it almost sounds as though it's infused with hints of Scriabin and Ligeti.  Kars generally plays the second book in slower than normal fashion throughout, but then he'll plat something like Les fees sont d'exquises danseuses at a more standard pace, along with uncommon clarity and unique rubato.  This is definitely a willful set of Preludes, but it's my type of willful.

As to the Fantaisie, well, the (slightly too closely miked) soloist and conductor make the best pairing in this work since Walter Gieseking and Kurt Schroeder, but the late 60s Decca sound, while not as good as today's best, is much better than in the Gieseking set.  To the extent I have a go-to recording for this work, this would now be it.

Then there's Kars' Messiaen.  The slightly soft-edged sound that permeates the Debussy and Schubert is replaced by sharp edged, clear, intense playing in Regards de l'Esprit de joie and Le merle bleu from the Catalog d'oiseaux, and the same traits sans intensity in the Regard du silence.  The episodic playing displayed in the Schubert is repeated here, and it works even better.  This is vibrant, dedicated Messiaen playing, easily up there with Peter Serkin or Eugeniusz Knapik.

It's something of a shame, from a selfish listener perspective, that Mr Kars gave up his performing and recording career, but at least this small selection is out there.  Maybe I'll try his Liszt, which is paired with recordings by Pascal Roge.  Dare I hope that Warner frees Kars' 70s Schoenberg from behind the vinyl curtain?  If he brings some of the style displayed in the three discs I've now listened to, well, it would be something to hear, to say the least.  This set reinforces why I keep on collecting new recordings of core rep.  Wow.

[terje]

not great sound but for some different interpretations try Mikhail Pletnev, a live recording available online.

[Mandryka]

not great sound but for some different interpretations try Mikhail Pletnev, a live recording available online.

Yes I saw him play Debussy in London and it was a wonderful concert.

[Monsieur Croche]

Bump. A subject I'm keen on. Please excuse my not scanning all the pages to make sure I am not replicating a recommendation.

Monique Haas, if not included when mentioning performance of Debussy, is bordering on the criminal. She was phenomenally good, a great pianist with as great a depth of musicianship. Too, she was in a direct line of descent of Debussy and his earlier fine interpreters. The complete piano recordings, including at least book II of the preludes [I have a certain memory both books are recorded] are on DGG
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-13207/

I think you can find her complete Debussy on youtube, which serves well as an introduction to this incomparable musician and as an audition prior deciding to purchase the recordings.

Monique Haas is right up there with the best of the best; I would be surprised if anyone who has not heard her would not be deeply and favorably impressed.

[North Star]

Bump. A subject I'm keen on. Please excuse my not scanning all the pages to make sure I am not replicating a recommendation.

Monique Haas [...]

Monique Haas is one of those names I’ve only seen until now.  I faced a choice when sampling her Debussy: DG or Erato?  The DG recordings are earlier and do not encompass all of the works, and would be (I surmised) in poorer sound.  The Erato recordings are later, presumably better sounding, but I thought there may be the possibility that Ms Haas would be past her prime.  Anyway, since the Erato set includes the near-complete works of Debussy and the complete works of Ravel, it seemed the better fit for me.

Ms Haas plays Debussy in a most natural way.  Her playing is of the French school – elegant, swift, unsentimental, though a bit more forceful than some others.  In some ways her playing reminds me of Robert Casadesus and Daniel Ericourt.  In overall approach she is more similar to Casadesus, and in her “natural” Debussy she reminds me of Ericourt, though ultimately she lacks the latter’s seeming effortlessness.  Her Debussy is not soft, hammerless, or dreamy.  It is characterized more by precision, (tastefeul) restraint, clear articulation, and clarity.  Everything seems right.  Everything fits.  Even so, it’s not my ideal Debussy.  It’s unusual to hear something that at once sounds so right yet lacks that something special to make it truly top notch.  Anyway, Haas seems more at home in the swifter preludes, and even though some grandeur and mystery may be missing the The Engulfed Cathedral, say, or some of the wit in something like General Lavine, there is a lot here to enjoy.  So, not world-beating set of preludes, perhaps, but substantial enough to sample many times.  Sound is very good and of its era (late 60s and early 70s).

As to the other works, the rest of her Debussy is, not surprisingly, stylistically similar and quite good.  Given her playing style, I was expecting her Ravel to be top notch, but it was not to be.  Again, her playing very good, but something is missing for me.  It’s still very good, just not of Casadesus or Simon or Bavouzet quality.

[ritter]

I bought the Erato set with Mme. Haas's Debussy and Ravel not too long ago.I had very high expectations, as reviews of her artistry wer almost invariably positive. And yet, I must say I was rather disppointed. I found everything n this set quite lacking in character, a kind of "middle-of-the road" approach to Debussy (not too fuzzy and misty, but on the other hand not that precise and clear either). The word that sums it up to me (at least my aimpression at that first earing) was "bland". Perhaps I should revisit this set again (but really haven't felt like doing so since I purchased it).

[Todd]

(Bringing this over from the WAYLT thread.)




The first disc of two from Michel Dalberto covering the two books of Images and Preludes, with Children's Corner tossed in.  This is one of the longer gestating sets of these works, if you will, spanning eighteen years from this recording to his more recent one on Aparte music.

In the liner notes of his Aparte release of the second books, Dalberto states that he sees Debussy's music as more related to Liszt's rather than Chopin's, and it shows in his playing.  This is extroverted Debussy, large in scale, and more about mezzo forte and forte playing than delicate shades of piano.  The Images are not delicate, but they are attractive in a fleet, sure, and virtuosic way.  There's a somewhat detached or superficial sense to the playing.  The same can be said about the Preludes.  Dalberto plays splendidly, but when he plays loud, it's loud, and nearly harsh, but it's brightly metallic colored, if you will, with flinty-ish upper registers.  Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest nearly thunders, and La Cathedrale engloutie starts off somewhat subdued and elegant and builds to a massive, weighty, cutting, bracing crescendo.  Think of this set as masculine, large-auditorium Debussy.

The competing set that comes immediately to mind while listening is Krystian Zimerman's set of Preludes.  I've long found them to be Liszt-infused, and so is Dalberto's playing.  Dalberto glides along the surface more, and sounds less precisely controlled as to either dynamics or tone.  Maybe this is not quite the same quality as Zimerman's, or maybe it is.  (OK, Zimerman's is better.)

Sound is excellent for a late 90s piano recording, but it reveals Dalberto's style, so no real lush piano sounds here.







The second disc of Dalberto's Debussy sorta cycles.  This live disc was recorded at a single recital in May 2015, with Dalberto playing on a Fazioli.  The recital opens with Children's Corner, and while Dalberto's style can still be said to be Liszt-infused, his playing here offers more in the way of nuance at the mezzo piano level, though he never really achieves a truly softly sound.  He does, however, take advantage of the brighter upper registers of his instrument, to good coloristic effect, and when he pounds out a vibrant Golliwog's Cakewalk, with sharply delineated, steely color, it is all excitement.  Better yet is the second book of Images, where Dalberto plays with evern greater dynamic variation, and plays with some purposeful rubato and desynchronization of hands, and in the second movement his left hand figurations take on uncommon meaning and focus.  The second book of Preludes is better still.  He applies all of the traits mentioned to a more notable and refined degree.  Of course, some may find the playing too mannered, and that's understandable.  But combine these traits with a massive dynamic range capped off by piercing (in a very good way) or thundering forte playing, and one gets beefy Debussy of distinction.  This is most definitely not Debussy for people who want a softer, legato laden, delicately shaded Debussy, that's for sure.

Sound quality for a live recording is outstanding.  A memorable release.

[GioCar]

A few words for Dino Ciani



I grew up with these albums, they are rooted deep inside me. When I listen to other pianists I always compare them with Dino's unique performances and find that, after all, these are the ones I still love most.   

[Todd]

A few words for Dino Ciani

You can get his entire DG output in one box now.  I'm slowly working my way through it.  I've had the Preludes for a long time, and I'm not as fond of them as you are, though they do have their moments.  For me, Ciani will always be the pianist with the LvB cycle in the worst sonics possible, though that is not through any fault of his.