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Clair de Lune Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Suite Bergamasque: Clair de lune La plus que lente Arabesque No.1 Le petit nègre Children’s Corner Suite: The snow is dancing Children’s Corner Suite: The little shepherd Children’s Corner Suite: Golliwog’s cakewalk Trois Estampes: La soirée dans Grenade Trois Estampes: Jardins sous la pluie Arabesque No.2 Valse romantique Danse (Tarantelle styrienne) Pour le piano: Toccata Images: Reflets dans l’eau Images: Poissons d’or Mazurka Rêverie Préludes, Book I: La fille aux cheveux de lin Préludes, Book I: Minstrels Préludes, Book I: La cathédral engloutie François-Joël Thiollier (piano) rec. 28 November - 1 December 1994, 13-15 March 1995, 16-18 January 1996, 25-27 September 1996, Temple Saint Marcel, Paris. DDD NAXOS 8.555800 [78'10"]

Naxos have made a selection from Thiollier’s complete recording of Debussy’s piano music although Volume 5, consisting mostly of the Études, is unrepresented here. The choice is very much a ‘Greatest Hits’ with an eye to the marketplace. One can’t argue with that; after all, most of Debussy’s music is very fine and original so any choice may be considered fairly arbitrary. All the same, more of the Préludes and fewer of the really early works (Valse romantique, Mazurka, Rêverie, Danse), might have served Debussy’s image better. All the pieces on the CD are very well played and should satisfy most listeners, especially if new to the music. Only when compared to the very best do these performances fall short. In fairness, a lack of the ultimate in wit and crispness might be attributed to the almost reverberant bloom of the sound. I found the resulting artificiality irritating and would much rather listen to the quiet dryness of the acoustic given to Jean-Yves Thibaudet on his natural sounding set for Decca. Occasional stop-start mannerisms obtrude, for example at the beginnings of La plus que lente and Golliwog’s cakewalk but, in general, this is not much of a problem. I can easily think of more characterful Debussy interpreters such as Thibaudet, Fergus-Thompson (an absolute bargain on Brilliant Classics coupled with Crossley playing Ravel) and Kocsis. However, as a CD of good performances of a well-chosen if obvious selection of Debussy’s piano music, this may be recommended. Roger Blackburn Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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