Debussy - Complete Piano Works

[Edward]

I am interested in purchasing the complete piano works of Claude Debussy, and I would appreciate any recommendation as to how to best acquire these pieces. The reviews on Amazon, though useful, have not made my decision any easier. Sets by the following performers (among others) appear to be readily available:

- Aldo Ciccolini

- Walter Gieseking

- Jean-Yves Thibaudet

- Hakon Austbo

- Jean-Pierre Armengaud

- Daniel Ericourt

Thanks for your insight!

[Larry Kart]

A post of mine from 12/06:

A Frenchman, born in 1903, who settled in the U.S. in 1926 and died in 1998, Ericourt was a fabled Debussy interpreter who recorded the complete piano works for the Kapp label in the 1960-62. I'd heard of these recordings but never heard them, then noticed that they were at Berkshire on Ivory Classics:

Debussy, The Complete Solo Piano Music. (Daniel Ericourt)

Add to cart | Price: $ 19.96 | 4 in set. | Country: AMERICA | D/A code: Analogue | Code: 73006 | BRO Code: 123558 | Label: IVORY CLASSICS

So far, they are a revelation. Ericourt tends to be on the dry and clear side, so be forwarned if you like your Debussy cloudy and dreamy, but having said that I'd claim that Ericourt's approach is not a matter of taste (as in, how do you like your Debussy?) but of insight. Seldom have I had the feeling to this degree (conductor Jascha Horenstein would be another case) that music that I thought I knew well was being understood so truly at the level of compositional intent, after which it's more or less a matter of chops, and Ericourt has them. In one sense, this is particularly evident at the level of drama/storytelling, and Debussy has that level -- witness his request to Marguerite Long, when she was working on Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the rain) with the composer: "More sun please! It is about children dancing around in the Luxembourg Gardens. The rain stopped. Now there is beautiful sunshine." For example, in Ericourt's reading of Dansueses de Delphe (Dancers of Delphi), from Preludes Book I, the dancers are simply (in fact, not so simply, in terms of execution) right there -- the sense of limbs being extended, feet planted, turns executed, etc. is palpable -- while in Youri Egerov's lovely, hazy, then imperious reading, it's all about graded shadings and textures at the keyboard; the approach is painterly, little or no sense of dance. Similarly, in the first of the Etudes, Pour les 'cinq doights (d'Apres Monsiuer Czerny), a key question is what is the composer's attitude toward the Czerny exercises that are being sent up here. Yes, they're being "sent up," but what happens dramatically in the piece, what are the impulses and reactions and their effects? Not that one needs to be literal, but Ericourt's plot goes something like this -- one's mind and fingers are irritated by the familiar, drudging dogmatic exercises; this translates explosively into rebellious anger, which then energizes/hurls the mind and fingers into triumphant/delirous fantasy. Again, I apologize for the literalness of this; but in Ericourt's hands, the realization of this story in sound clearly IS the germ of the piece (or so I'm convinced), especially when one hears readings, no matter how digitally adept, in which the interpreter's (actually, of course, the composer's) attitude toward the Czerny material is left unformed dramatically or never even comes up.

The only drawback to this set is that it's dubbed from LPs -- the original tapes are not and probably never will be available -- but the bits of surface noise I hear are no problem for me.

[BruceH]

As always Larry, thanks for your insight.

[Edward]

Thanks for the recommendations, guys. I am now inclined to pursue the Kocsis set.

Larry, I read your thoughtful interpretation earlier while searching this board - thanks for re-posting it here. Although I will certainly listen to whichever set I end up buying, it is intended as a gift for a young woman whom I know; and so I thought it wise to steer away from Ericourt in light of your assessment that he tends to be on the "dry and clear side".

Edited October 16, 2007 by Edward

[BruceH]

my zoltan, yr zoltan, everybody's zoltan debussy

He should sit closer to the piano.

[RDK]

Thank goodness - I was worried this might be a new Mosaic box!

[mandrill]

It's about time for pianist of Cecil taylor's magnitude to interpret these timeless works.

[Claude]

The Kocsis box does not offer the complete Debussy piano music. The Etudes are missing. It also includes the Ravel piano concertos.

http://www.iclassics.com/productDetail?contentId=64511

[7/4]

It's about time for pianist of Cecil taylor's magnitude to interpret these timeless works.

Wouldn't that be something.

[mikeweil]

I think Jean Boguet's recording is good: he really plays every dynamic nuance as notated and lets the music speak for itself. The label is Tudor. But watch for the price - in Germany you can get it for € 30.00 ...

Edited January 28, 2009 by mikeweil

[7/4]

I wonder how folks feel about the Paul Jacobs (Nonesuch) and Werner Hass (Phillips) albums.

I've been listening to the Nonesuch albums a lot lately.

[Spontooneous]

I wonder how folks feel about the Paul Jacobs (Nonesuch) and Werner Hass (Phillips) albums.

I've been listening to the Nonesuch albums a lot lately.

FWIW, the Jacobs discs are my favorite Debussy discs of all. It's a mystery to me why the Critical Establishment looks askance at them.

[7/4]

Really...I didn't know they felt that way.

dB

[Shawn]

The only disc of solo Debussy I currently own is this one:

Philippe Entremont - recorded 1959. Not sure what the critical consensus of these recordings are, I enjoy them but would be open to suggestions from here.

Thanks,

Shawn

[A Lark Ascending]

Go for the two volumes of Preludes and the Estampes, Shawn.

I wouldn't get too hung up on which is the best version - until you're well immersed in the music you're not going to be able to tell. I've been listening to and thoroughly enjoying this music for thirty years and have never found the need to get anxious about definitive versions.

There are pretty inexpensive boxes covering a wide range of his piano music. I have this one which does the job for me:

Though mine is not covered with stickers!

Edited February 2, 2009 by Bev Stapleton

[7/4]

Go for the two volumes of Preludes and the Estampes, Shawn.

and Etudes!

[Ron S]

Shawn, for what it's worth--and I'm not sure it's much --Steven Osborne's complete Debussy Preludes (Hyperion) and Mitsuko Uchida's complete Debussy Etudes (Philips) are very highly regarded in some quarters (e.g., The Penguin Guide), and are currently available from BMG/yourmusic. I don't know if you're a member of either or both, but if you are, you might want to check 'em out.

[Niko]

emerson string quartet plays debussy and ravel string quartets is my only debussy album and i like it a lot

Edited February 6, 2009 by Niko

[7/4]

Debussy threads should be merged...

This has been going in the bedroom for some time now. . . .

That's the one I own...cheap too!

[A Lark Ascending]

This is one of my favourite Debussy discs....not piano but has piano on it:

• Sonata for Flute, Viola & Harp
  
• Syrinx for Solo Flute
  
• Première Rapsodie for Clarinet & Piano
  
• Petite Pièce for Clarinet and Piano
  
• Sonata for Violin and Piano
  
• Sonata for Cello and Piano
  

Glorious cover too.

[jazzbo]

I have the Ivory Classics box set and really like it. I also have, and also really enjoy, Preludes 1 and 2 by Catherine Collard, on RCA, on Japanese cds.

Both of these are available at www.broinc.com

[7/4]

French Impressions

Paul Galbraith

Debussy & Ravel on 8 string classical guitar. He uses an end pin and holds his guitar like a cello.

[7/4]

These transcriptions are a blast too:

Debussy's Harp

Yolanda Kondonassis

[A Lark Ascending]

French Impressions

Paul Galbraith

Debussy & Ravel on 8 string classical guitar. He uses an end pin and holds his guitar like a cello.

Now that does look interesting! I'll be following that up...thanks.

[Guest youmustbe]

Do any of you have Debussy playing...on the Wempe rolls? I have the Columbia original lp.

My mother studied with Alfred Cortot.

I heard her play Debussy from my first memories as a child and on thru her last year in the nursing home.

So I never needed to hear others play the music. And when I got Claude doing it himself, that was enough for me.

Great music, especially the etudes.