Claude Debussy
Posted by: Sloop John B on 09 October 2007
Myself and Mrs Sloop having got a baby sitter to go to a meeting which was on the previous evening, used the opportunity to go to the national concert hall for a piano recital by a young pianist Jacqui Connolly. Among the pieces played was Estampes for piano which I thought was wonderful.
So on to the forum and only 4 posts with Debussy in the title. Nonetheless they led me to Amazon to get
and
the former which I'm listening to this evening.
I thought I'd start another thread where people could enthuse or otherwise about Debussy and some of the more special recordings of his work.
SJBPosted on: 09 October 2007 by droodzilla
Uchida's recording of the Etudes is excellent. My ears boggled the first time I heard it!
Posted on: 09 October 2007 by Oldnslow
That Michaelangeli disc is an absolute classic. The Uchida is also very fine, though the etudes are quite difficult to come to grips with compared to Debussy's other music, at least for me. The Gieseking recordings are famous, of course. Seems to me you have just about everything you need! I'd shift to Ravel--his piano works, including the concerti, are all superb. Michaelangeli's Gaspard de la Nuit is wonderful (BBC Legends), and I see Decca Originals just re-released Ashkenazy's version of that piece, which is also very fine. Michaelangeli's classic recording of the Ravel Piano concerto is available on EMI Great Recordings of the Century series. Great stuff
Posted on: 09 October 2007 by Oldnslow
One other Michaelangli recording worth getting is a live recital on Testament (2 CD set)--unbelievable Debussy, Schumann (Carnaval, etc) and Chopin, well recorded, including a fascinating rehearsal bit. Worth seeking out
Posted on: 10 October 2007 by KenM
If the Sloop family want to try non- solo piano works by Debussy, two items which I rate highly are Debussy-Orchestral Music on Philips Duo 438 742-2, played by the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Haitink and Van Beinum, a 2-CD set and
Violin Sonata played by Kyung Wha Chung with Radu Lupu on piano on Decca 460 006-2.
Ken
Posted on: 11 October 2007 by Sloop John B
quote:
Originally posted by KenM:
If the Sloop family want to try non- solo piano works by Debussy, two items which I rate highly are Debussy-Orchestral Music on Philips Duo 438 742-2, played by the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Haitink and Van Beinum, a 2-CD set and
Violin Sonata played by Kyung Wha Chung with Radu Lupu on piano on Decca 460 006-2.
Ken
Thanks Ken and Oldnslow and indeed I'm open to suggestions about any of Debussy's work.
SJBPosted on: 12 October 2007 by Edot
Kocsis is great in the solo works. A real stand-out for me. The budget box with Fischer at the helm in the orchestral works coupled with Kocsis in the the solo pieces is desert island material. I also have the Gieseking box and Michaelangeli. I could probably do without Gieseking but not Michaelangeli.
Posted on: 12 October 2007 by Todd A
For the piano music, Gieseking is the best yet recorded. His 30s recordings on VAI are possibly better than his 50s EMI stuff, though I need both. Michelangeli is almost as good, though I find is live recordings (on Aura) better than his DG recordings. Also consider Michel Beroff in either his EMI or Denon recordings, with the definite edge going to the Denon recordins. Daniel Ericourt is also wonderful here.
For La Mer and the Nocturnes, Pierre Boulez's DG recording is almost essential. Charles Munch is also quite good.
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