# Favourite of Debussy’s Preludes?



## Die Forelle (Jul 28, 2020)

I was wondering if anyone here was partial to Debussy’s Preludes and which ones you prefer. I like des pas sur la neige (Book 1) myself.


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## Guest (Jul 31, 2020)

Die Forelle said:


> I was wondering if anyone here was partial to Debussy's Preludes and which ones you prefer. I like des pas sur la neige (Book 1) myself.


Yes, I am very partial - to the obvious ones like nos 8 and 10 (Bk 1) - but also to listening to them as a set, without noting the titles he gave them.

I have Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's set on Chandos.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

I like Debussy's Preludes a lot. I have Gieseking, Michelangeli and Zimerman for the complete set and a few separate ones by Richter. The funny thing is that I got Zimerman's DG recording first, because of high praises of any of his recordings on release. But I couldn't connect and it ended somewhere in the corner once I got Michelangeli. After hearing two life concerts of Zimerman (not Debussy, but Schubert last sonatas and Brahms second pianoconcert), I was quite moved by his playing and dug up his Debussy set. I now got to appreciate his playing more. I added Gieseking recently, as he was so highly praised here. I didn't yet really listen to his preludes well enough. 

I also don't have a favored prelude, as I will listen to the set.


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## UniversalTuringMachine (Jul 4, 2020)

NLAdriaan said:


> I like Debussy's Preludes a lot. I have Gieseking, Michelangeli and Zimerman for the complete set and a few separate ones by Richter. The funny thing is that I got Zimerman's DG recording first, because of high praises of any of his recordings on release. But I couldn't connect and it ended somewhere in the corner once I got Michelangeli. After hearing two life concerts of Zimerman (not Debussy, but Schubert last sonatas and Brahms second pianoconcert), I was quite moved by his playing and dug up his Debussy set. I now got to appreciate his playing more. I added Gieseking recently, as he was so highly praised here. I didn't yet really listen to his preludes well enough.
> 
> I also don't have a favored prelude, as I will listen to the set.


Zimerman's preludes spoiled this music for me, they are too "perfect" (in terms of his meticulous use of pedal and sensitive ear to tone color). After listening to them for a while, I don't see a reason to listen to Debussy's preludes ever again (other than Bavouzet).

I prefer Images and Children's corner, they age much better, IMO.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

UniversalTuringMachine said:


> Zimerman's preludes spoiled this music for me, they are too "perfect" (in terms of his meticulous use of pedal and sensitive ear to tone color). After listening to them for a while, I don't see a reason to listen to Debussy's preludes ever again (other than Bavouzet).
> 
> I prefer Images and Children's corner, they age much better, IMO.


I understand what you mean about Zimerman. However, after I heard Zimerman playing the last Schubert Sonatas live (which he also recorded for DG), I understood his playing and was fully engaged by it. And this was in even more emotionally charged music than Debussy. His refined deep interpretation of Schubert opened up new visions of the music. And instead of the sometimes clinical sound of his recordings, I now was fully absorbed. I had tickets for a marathon concert all 5 Beethoven pianoconcerto's by Zimerman and the RCO in one go coming October, but it got cancelled thx to the [email protected]##%&$$ virus.

When you get a chance to hear Zimerman live, please do. However, he won't play in the US anymore.


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## UniversalTuringMachine (Jul 4, 2020)

NLAdriaan said:


> I understand what you mean about Zimerman. However, after I heard Zimerman playing the last Schubert Sonatas live (which he also recorded for DG), I understood his playing and was fully engaged by it. And this was in even more emotionally charged music than Debussy. His refined deep interpretation of Schubert opened up new visions of the music. And instead of the sometimes clinical sound of his recordings, I now was fully absorbed. I had tickets for a marathon concert all 5 Beethoven pianoconcerto's by Zimerman and the RCO in one go coming October, but it got cancelled thx to the [email protected]##%&$$ virus.
> 
> When you get a chance to hear Zimerman live, please do. However, he won't play in the US anymore.


I know, how unfortunate and he doesn't make recordings anymore. His Schubert is always very fine.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I'm like the others here, I have to hear them as a set. Book II is my favorite, played by Richter in Spoleto. The opening piece, with its very fleet, light arpeggios, is one of my favorites. I like the very "light" ones.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

“The Hills of Anacapri,” “The Sunken Cathedral,” and “Firecrackers” are some off the top of my head that I enjoy. I do love these preludes when they are played by intelligent pianists who are able to sift through the various sounds and allow us to savor every note. I don’t understand the appeal of the Michelangeli, it sounds detached to me. Gieseking and Zimerman are close to perfect, and Arrau’s deeply probing expeditions into Debussy’s world are great to hear as well.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

If I have to choose just one, it would probably be "Le Vent Dans La Plaine". Sends shivers down my spine. "Danseuses De Delphes", "Les Collines D'Anacapri" and "La Puerto Del Vino" are also high points. I have about 30 different recordings of Debussy's Preludes and I have a special affection for Paul Jacobs' 1978 recording, although Roger Woodward's 2007 set is also very good. 

For those looking for something a little out of the ordinary, I also recommend Hiroko Sasaki's 2010 recording. Not only is it played on an 1873 Pleyel piano, which means the sound is subtly different from the usual modern Steinways and Bosendorfers, she approaches the structure of the pieces in a rather different way to any of the other recordings I have. Well worth getting for those who like Debussy's Preludes and haven't heard it.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Sunken Cathedral


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

UniversalTuringMachine said:


> I know, how unfortunate and he doesn't make recordings anymore. His Schubert is always very fine.


I am not aware of Zimerman quitting recording, he released his last recording in 2018 and for Zimerman, there are usually some intervals. As he is still performing, I would think he will release new DG albums in the future.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

UniversalTuringMachine said:


> Zimerman's preludes spoiled this music for me, they are too "perfect" (in terms of his meticulous use of pedal and sensitive ear to tone color). After listening to them for a while, I don't see a reason to listen to Debussy's preludes ever again (other than Bavouzet).
> 
> I prefer Images and Children's corner, they age much better, IMO.


Debussy'd Preludes are from his last active period. Just like Beethoven, Liszt and also Mahler, Debussy had a last creative period in which he developed a new musical style, in this case modernist. Orchestral pieces like Jeux and Khamma are from this period, and also his Preludes. Many musicians tend to interpret Debussy in a generic style, often called impressionism. If you listen to these last works, played by musicians who know about this, you will have a different experience then the one we wrongly tend to associate with Debussy's oeuvre. So, the Preludes should be considered as modernist music and therefore, playing them as if it was a friendly impressionist painting does not do them right.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

NLAdriaan said:


> Debussy'd Preludes are from his last active period. Just like Beethoven, Liszt and also Mahler, Debussy had a last creative period in which he developed a new musical style, in this case modernist.


No, they are from his intermediate period, the same as his _Images_ and _Children's corner_. His last active period starts with _Jeux_, and encompas pieces like the piano etudes, _En Blanc et noir_, and the three sonatas, which are generally more ascetic and abstract, without references to pictures and impressions. Some preludes from the second book do anticipe on the last period (_Canope, Les tierces alternées_), however. And Debussy was a modernist since _Prélude à l'après-midi d'un Faune_.
That being said, I do agree the preludes shouldn't be played with the emphasis on the figural intentions. Zimerman, on the other hand, plays them like if they were some kind of late romantism pieces. He's quite far from Debussy's intentions, and his recording shouldn't be held as a definitive version.
I was lucky enough to heard the first book played by Aldo Ciccolini a few years before he died, when he had reached a form of perfection in this repertoire. Any recording pales in comparison.


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2020)

Kilgore Trout said:


> No, they are from his intermediate period, the same as his _Images_ and _Children's corner_. His last active period starts with _Jeux_, and encompas pieces like the piano etudes, _En Blanc et noir_, and the three sonatas, which are generally more ascetic and abstract, without references to pictures and impressions.


That's what I thought too.



Kilgore Trout said:


> I was lucky enough to heard the first book played by Aldo Ciccolini a few years before he died, when he had reached a form of perfection in this repertoire. Any recording pales in comparison.


It only pales if you're able to make the comparison (which _you _are). For the rest of us, a recording will have to do.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Girl with the Flaxen Hair by far.


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## Ich muss Caligari werden (Jul 15, 2020)

I prefer his _Images_, truth to tell, and of those _Cloches à travers les feuilles_ offers me the most joy. But of the _Preludes_, _Danseuses de Delphes_ rates most highly chez moi. I was unaware, until relatively recently, that the titles of them do not appear until the very end of the score - not only giving each _Prelude_ a kind of aesthetic primacy but also making of them something like a _jeu de devinettes_.


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## Die Forelle (Jul 28, 2020)

It is without a doubt that they are better experienced together rather than separately. I quite agree


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