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 21,000 Classical CD reviews on offer

Gerard Hoffnung Concerts &
The Bricklayer Story

New Releases

New Releases

MusicWeb Recommended Recordings 2008

DISCS OF THE YEAR 2007