Friday, December 12, 2008

Debussy's romanticism

My first introduction to Debussy's Suite Bergemasque was a Naxos recording by Francois-Joel Thiollier. I was taken in particular by the Prelude, and it was only a lot later that I paid attention to Clair de lune.

Debussy is a particular favourite of mine (albeit it's hard to go past Ravel), and on recommendations, I got my wife a fairly comprehensive collection of his piano pieces by the highly reputed Walter Geiseking.

I thought maybe I was too influenced by the first version I came to know well: Thiollier's. But my wife also preferred the pretender version: she said its syncopation was more in tune with Debussy's romanticism, while Geiseking carried specifically on the basis of his reputation and his technical competence.

Still, while the knowledged world may be listening to Geiseking's Claire de lune, I prefer Thiollier - yet even better, my wife playing on the piano in front of me.

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