Debussy's Preludes

[Turner]

Daniel Ericourt was mentioned briefly, but the often fine/interesting, complete cycles of for example Fou Tsong (modern sound), Marcelle Meyer & Livia Rev weren´t.

[Mandryka]

Daniel Ericourt was mentioned briefly, but the often fine/interesting, complete cycles of for example Fou Tsong (modern sound), Marcelle Meyer & Livia Rev weren´t.

How interventionist is Ericourt? Someone said to me that the he really does fiddle around with the score, but I can't check for myself.

[Turner]

How interventionist is Ericourt? Someone said to me that the he really does fiddle around with the score, but I can't check for myself.

Ericourt:
- "Perhaps the easiest way to describe Ericourt's superb, insightful pianism is that he synthesizes the best qualities of his generation's two premier Debussy players, fusing Walter Gieseking's tonal refinement with Robert Casadesus' highly articulated fingerwork. More often than not, Ericourt's rhythmic exactitude, wide dynamic range, and textural differentiation give clarity and shape to passages other pianists habitually blur (such as ostinatos, trills, and arpeggios"
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-10358/

- Another reviewer underlining clarity: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/31334-daniel-ericourts-complete-debussy-piano-works/

- http://cvnc.org/article.cfm?articleId=4146

- http://www.greensboro.com/funeral-held-today-for-famed-concert-pianist-pianist-daniel-ericourt/article_6300ce7d-5ffe-51c1-9bdd-74ef6f5430ea.html

So technically he is good. My impression is that he can be interventionist, obvious from listening to some rather free-style playing in "Minstrels", "La Serenade Interrompue" or his very light and dance-like "La Danse de Puck". But it also seems organized to me. In "Ce que a vu le Vent d´Ouest"  he is coherent and structured, then there´s a bit of extra wilderness almost at the end, to underline effects, for example. As regards his accents in individual notes, I´m not able to judge it.

Certainly original and interesting recordings. I´ve got the old Kapp LPs. CDs seem very expensive right now.

[aukhawk]

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. ...

I was interested by Todd's description of this piano sound, and so acquired this recording a couple of days ago.  It is gorgeous.  Whereas any attempt to fit the sound of a modern concert grand into my humble living room would inevitably be doomed to failure, this just seems to fit right in, it's just so ... believable.

I'm no expert on performances, but this certainly makes the other two recordings I have (Martino Tirimo, Gordon Fergus-Thompson) completely redundant, they just sound prosaic in comparison.
Thanks, Todd, for your inviting overview of this release.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

My latest acquisition is the Egorov box set and his Preludes, spread over two CDs, also sound very good to me and very close to Richter for top choice.

Egorov is awesome, with perhaps the softest touch of any pianist I've heard in the Preludes. But this soft touch isn't borne from a lightweight. On the contrary, he's happy brooding his way through each piece and carving out phrases.

In the end, though, I'm most fond of Kocsis. He's his usual exploratory self, with faster pacing in some pieces than is perhaps the norm, but not a single bar sounds rushed. He's great at manipulating a phrase, or whole sections, to flesh out the contrasts while keeping a solid grip on the whole. The end result is some mighty fine fantasy.


[asin]B000007N5K[/asin]

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Daniel Ericourt was mentioned briefly, but the often fine/interesting, complete cycles of for example Fou Tsong (modern sound), Marcelle Meyer & Livia Rev weren´t.

Livia Rev is definitely a dark-horse, but I agree she's great. But which recording are you referring to? She recorded a complete cycle for Saga in the early '80s and a partial cycle for Hyperion in the early '90s. I have the Saga set as well as her book 2 preludes on Hyperion.

She's a tad more animated for Saga but not as well recorded. The better sound on Hyperion allows for more nuance and greater depth, but overall I'd say neither has a leg up on the other. I think I slightly prefer the Hyperion, just for the sound.

One thing's for certain, though: she's the absolute anthesis of Beroff, Kocsis, and their ilk. Abandon isn't in her genes. Not that she's staid or reticent or anything, just that she's all about making every block of sound stand out. Obviously she knows how to make it work, though, so I give her plenty of kudos.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Where I think he really is outstanding is in Book 2 -- he makes Book 2 sound as great as Book 1.

Interesting view. For me Book 2 is the preferred book, reaching farther into the future than the Book 1. But they're both great, of course!

[Turner]

Livia Rev is definitely a dark-horse, but I agree she's great. But which recording are you referring to? She recorded a complete cycle for Saga in the early '80s and a partial cycle for Hyperion in the early '90s. I have the Saga set as well as her book 2 preludes on Hyperion.

She's a tad more animated for Saga but not as well recorded. The better sound on Hyperion allows for more nuance and greater depth, but overall I'd say neither has a leg up on the other. I think I slightly prefer the Hyperion, just for the sound.

One thing's for certain, though: she's the absolute anthesis of Beroff, Kocsis, and their ilk. Abandon isn't in her genes. Not that she's staid or reticent or anything, just that she's all about making every block of sound stand out. Obviously she knows how to make it work, though, so I give her plenty of kudos.

I have the Saga sets, some more Debussy as well with her.

[Todd]

Another Frenchman joins the fray in Debussy's Preludes.  A student of Gaby Casadesus and Vitaly Margulis, Philippe Bianconi's tutelage was first rate.  His playing is, too.  He plays the entire set at a somewhat brisk seventy-four-ish minutes, and yet he never sounds rushed, and on more than one occasion he imparts a nice, languid sensibility without ever overdoing it.  Everything sounds natural, for lack of a better word, and no individual piece really stands out.  (Okay, The Engulfed Cathedral could have been a bit grander in scale.)  And both books sound roughly equal, whereas a fair number of pianists seem to be better in one or the other.  The second book has more of a cool feel than a more modernist feel, which is to the good here. 

Sound is close, a bit dry, and mostly about midrange, without a lot of lower register heft or upper register sparkle, but it is still superb.

La Dolce Vita's hit rate remains very high.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I have that Preludes disc en route to me as I type. Looking forward to hearing it.

Interesting observation about the sonics. YouTube has several movements from this disc available for listening and I think I've noticed what you describe (I'll know more when I actually hear the disc). Although I have a feeling there could be some bias on my part since the sonics on Bianconi's DSD Lyrinx recordings are some of the finest in the catalogue.

If you ever come across Bianconi's disc with Images cheaply it might be worth your while.

[Todd]

...Although I have a feeling there could be some bias on my part since the sonics on Bianconi's DSD Lyrinx recordings are some of the finest in the catalogue.

The few Lyrinx recordings I own are all SOTA sound.  Too bad the distribution for the label doesn't seem especially robust.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Too bad the distribution for the label doesn't seem especially robust.

Yes, +1. It's a label I'd like to know better. For us Stateside though it's a crapshoot.

[snyprrr]

bump for new recommends

[Mandryka]

bump for new recommends

Have you heard Cassard? When you can download I'll let you have excellent non-commercial transfers of Ericourt. Maybe you'd like to buy the new Pollini Bk 2 and post your impressions.

[Mirror Image]

Egorov is awesome, with perhaps the softest touch of any pianist I've heard in the Preludes. But this soft touch isn't borne from a lightweight. On the contrary, he's happy brooding his way through each piece and carving out phrases.

In the end, though, I'm most fond of Kocsis. He's his usual exploratory self, with faster pacing in some pieces than is perhaps the norm, but not a single bar sounds rushed. He's great at manipulating a phrase, or whole sections, to flesh out the contrasts while keeping a solid grip on the whole. The end result is some mighty fine fantasy.


[asin]B000007N5K[/asin]

I'm a year late to this post, but a big YES to Kocsis and really any of his Debussy recordings. That particular recording, which is way OOP and costly if you find a copy (I was fortunate enough to find one for a decent price many weeks ago), is currently my favorite recording of Préludes. Besides Kocsis, I've heard Aimard, Michelangeli, and Planès. Waiting on me to be heard at the moment are Egorov (from the Warner Complete Works set), Jumppanen (Ondine), and Osborne (Hyperion).

Edit: I just bought Paul Jacobs' recording on Nonesuch. Very much looking forward to hearing this one.

[snyprrr]

Have you heard Cassard? When you can download I'll let you have excellent non-commercial transfers of Ericourt. Maybe you'd like to buy the new Pollini Bk 2 and post your impressions.

omplete Piano Muisc

Well,... I certainly didn'tplan on it, but, as I was shooting for a Debussy Complete Piano Music, and Kocsis was too high, as were most others, the Jones/Nimbus set presented itself to me for $5. Now, I have had his Francaix for a little while, and he's no cookie-cutter slouch,... there's always the Nimbus sound to take into account...

Well, so, I picked the Arabesque No.1 and went through a bunch of Pianists,... and,... Jones really ain't no slouch after all!! I was quite surprised, hereminds me of Beroff, though Beroff seems to have a sharper piano image (just got his Messiaen, absolutely my first choice, maybe even above Osbourne!!).

Well, so, for five I get five cds, with 'Khamma' and the other two pieces...

We'll see how the Nimbus sound effects this particular Cycle... I'm sure many know...


I really am not a Debussian, and wasn't planning this, but, I did notice he doesn't really start until after Liszt is done,... so...

Liszt
Debussy
Messiaen
Xenakis

there!

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I'm a year late to this post, but a big YES to Kocsis and really any of his Debussy recordings. That particular recording, which is way OOP and costly if you find a copy (I was fortunate enough to find one for a decent price many weeks ago), is currently my favorite recording of Préludes. Besides Kocsis, I've heard Aimard, Michelangeli, and Planès. Waiting on me to be heard at the moment are Egorov (from the Warner Complete Works set), Jumppanen (Ondine), and Osborne (Hyperion).

Edit: I just bought Paul Jacobs' recording on Nonesuch. Very much looking forward to hearing this one.

Yeah, I have all of Kocsis' Debussy. Divine all the way. And a big yes to Michelangeli and Egorov. I'd say get Bianconi as well but it looks like you're pretty well stocked on recordings of preludes!

I have Kocsis' Debussy in the set below, which includes the Ravel concertos!



[asin]B000E0LB8Q[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Yeah, I have all of Kocsis' Debussy. Divine all the way. And a big yes to Michelangeli and Egorov. I'd say get Bianconi as well but it looks like you're pretty well stocked on recordings of preludes!

I have Kocsis' Debussy in the set below, which includes the Ravel concertos!



[asin]B000E0LB8Q[/asin]

Thanks, DD. Yeah, I'd say I've got a few recordings of the Préludes. I was initially going to get that Kocsis Debussy, Ravel set, but it's OOP and very expensive, so I figured I'd go the single issue route and I'm glad I did because I managed to find all of his Debussy recordings for good prices. You and Rafael (ritter) have spoken highly of the Bianconi, so I might consider it for a future purchase.

[Mookalafalas]

I've been browsing this thread and binging on Debussy and the preludes (I have access to quite a few).  They are all so good! And so different from interpretation to interpretation. I ordered the Beroff from Japan (Just had one of the 4 disks--not with the Preludes. After playing it had to have the rest). Just finished listening to Gieseking and started the Michelangeli. I think the Michelangeli is changing my life.  The more he slows down, the more gripping it becomes.

[Mirror Image]

I've been browsing this thread and binging on Debussy and the preludes (I have access to quite a few).  They are all so good! And so different from interpretation to interpretation. I ordered the Beroff from Japan (Just had one of the 4 disks--not with the Preludes. After playing it had to have the rest). Just finished listening to Gieseking and started the Michelangeli. I think the Michelangeli is changing my life.  The more he slows down, the more gripping it becomes.

Michelangeli is quite good, but I wouldn't put his performance on the same level as his Images, Series I & II and Children's Corner. I could very well be in the minority with this particular opinion, but that's okay. I enjoy Kocsis and Egorov the most of the ones I've heard. I have Paul Jacobs' coming in the mail and, so far, he's one of my favorite Debussy pianists. Dancing Divertimentian and Rafael (ritter) recommended me the Bianconi, but I haven't pulled the trigger on his recording yet.