Debussy: The Complete Works For Piano

This was my first experience with Debussy's piano music. I loved it. Fast service from the seller.

It is truly a collection of all of the best that Claude Debussy wrote for the Piano.

I like both Debussy and Walter Gieseking, one of the best piano players I ever heard (and saw).

Full disclosure: Debussy (and Ravel) are my favorite composers so I am inclined to enjoy almost everyone's interpretations of their pieces. But of all i have heard Walter Gieseking has a certain magic that non of the others have. it is for me almost hypnotically beautiful and i find myself listening to his Debussy Piano works over and over again- always hearing a new subtlety I hadn't noticed before. Why then only 4 stars and not five? the sound quality is not quite what I had hoped for: a little too distantly recorded to complement the delicate beauty of this music. in other words, the piano sound should be as intimate as the music is.

Thank you

The watery allusions to Debussy music seem to have been taken far too literally by many pianists as well as piano music fans. Attempting to describe something inexpressible in concrete terms is inherently flawed, and to take an irrational "impression" and attempt to distill it down even further, results in loss of clarity. Though the music may be "softer," and less "rigid" and thus more flexible to subjective interpretation, it is distanced from the artist's first message; the music itself. Debussy's music speaks clearly, without the need for "Gaullic" over-sentimentalizing. I've never understood the arguments about Gieseking's Germanic interpretation, as if genetics and not culture were the main influence in one's artistic make-up. Though other great pianists who have recorded these pieces caress wonderful tones from their instruments, compared to Gieseking's mastery and control of colors and his tonal variety they sound overly warm, mushy even. Listening to Gieseking playing Debussy is to be at the water's edge, sight unimpeded by any mist rising from the surface of the pond, gazing upon a reflection of the moon that is not hazed in by clouds. After him, listening to other recordings is like peering at the same lunar image from the bottom of the pond. Save me Gieseking, I'm drowning...

Even though recorded in mono, I highly recommend this nearly complete recording of Debussy's piano solo work for its sheer beauty and poetry...in a level of sensitivity rarely encountered. This set is an excellent introduction to the composer's legacy... One could hope that the earlier recordings of Debussy's Gieseking on Columbia from the 30's, at a time when he was at his technical peak, would one day be reissued, too: some pieces are even more impressive!!!

You must recognize after listening the incorporean , seductive , evocative , sugestive and landscape depicter style of Walter Gieseking ; that is hard to find out another player who has been so commited as Gieseking was. You easily may establish standards in other musical latitudes : Beethoven - Schnabel ; Schumann - Kempff ; Chopin - Francois ; Rachmaninvov - Kapell ; Bartok - Sandor . I mean these piano works are not only extraordinary performances , but also has become in must reference. Think in The two arabesques ; the Bergamasque suite or the great gate of wine for instance ; Gieseking seemed vanishing as pianist to become in a stalker who carries us to the deepest regions of Debussy's soul . You feel the pantheist mood in all the extension of the word. Don't risk your time in any other player . I've tried and there's no way to win with Gieseking ; he's the one and unique! The known pianist Jesus Maria San Roma had for Gieseking that kind surname : Walter He's a king .

The sound may be a bit odd but the playing is wonderful. I found this a bit of a challenge to listen to but well worth the effort.

Fabuleux.

Excellente interprétation de l'intégrale par le grand Giseking