Debussy: 12 Etudes / Suite Bergamasque

Ohlsson (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arabesque Recordings
• ASIN: B000000T7B
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #453,964 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Douze Etudes pour Piano: I - Pour Les 'Cinq Doigts'

2. Douze Etudes pour Piano: II - Pour Les Tierces

3. Douze Etudes pour Piano: III - Pour Les Quartes

4. Douze Etudes pour Piano: IV - Pour Les Sixtes

5. Douze Etudes pour Piano: V - Pour Les Octaves

6. Douze Etudes pour Piano: VI - Pour Les huit doigts

7. Douze Etudes pour Piano: VII - Pour Les Degres Chromatiques

8. Douze Etudes pour Piano: VIII- Pour Les Agrements

9. Douze Etudes pour Piano: IX - Pour Les Notes Repetees

10. Douze Etudes pour Piano: X - Pour Les Sonorities Opposees

11. Douze Etudes pour Piano: XI - Pour Les Arpeges Composes

12. Douze Etudes pour Piano: XII - Pour Les Accords

13. Suite Bergamasque: Prelude

14. Suite Bergamasque: Menuet

15. Suite Bergamasque: Clair De Lune

16. Suite Bergamasque: Passepied

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DEBUSSY DELIVERED, March 26, 2003

By 

Melvyn M. Sobel "Melvyn M. Sobel" (Freeport, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Debussy: 12 Etudes / Suite Bergamasque (Audio CD)

Ohlsson's artistry never ceases to amaze. Whether romancing Chopin, finessing Carl Maria von Weber or re-orienting the classicism of Haydn, this exceptional pianist is always revealing something new in the music, with a tenacity of concept and vision that rarely fails him.

This recital of Debussy is no different. Frankly, it is stunning. And, in the typical Ohlsson manner, appealingly wayward. The Etudes, the most demanding of works, and requiring the utmost in both sensitivity and panache, seem never to have sounded as "impressionistic" as they do here, nor, simultaneously, as defined. In any other pianist's hands, this feat would merely be the paradox it appears; however, for Ohlsson, it is the music's natural state. Such elucidation brings these final compositions of Debussy into daring focus, while still keeping the myriad colors of his palette awash with awesome originality.

Most controversial, and almost heretically slow, is the pianist's conception of the Suite Bergamasque. But, again, Ohlsson does not fail to convince. In a work that could easily unravel, quite the opposite occurs: it coalesces into an emotional tour de force that simply rivets. Even the all too familiar "Clair de lune," so frequently maimed, here becomes a revelation. At nearly seven minutes, the artist transforms it into one of the most moving piano statements Debussy ever uttered. So unique and magical is Ohlsson that the Suite, alone, makes this recording worth having. Thought-provoking interpretations in every way, with sound as exemplary as it is warm and realistic.

[Running time: 70:29]

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Technically brilliant and emotionally moving., January 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Debussy: 12 Etudes / Suite Bergamasque (Audio CD)

These works are so beautifully played you forget that they are etudes. Ohlsson's technique is so secure that he treats them as music first (instead of just etudes),and the technique is there to back him up. Some of them just float and others have a rhythmic and dynamic definition that drives home the spirit and musical meaning of each one. They are far superior to Pollini's, which suprised me - he seems lost in them. As a pianist myself, who knows how fiendish these etudes are, I'm amazed that Ohlsson can play them with such polish.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Suite Bergamasque....Sergei Bergamasque, October 7, 2009

By 

trastevere "trastevere" (rome, italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Debussy: 12 Etudes / Suite Bergamasque (Audio CD)

I heard only the last two pieces from the Suite Bergamasque (on the radio), and though I was impressed immediately by the pianism, I began to find myself irritated by the absence of Debussy. Where is the stillness, the sense of motionlesness, the zen-like clarity? If you like Debussy played like it were Prokofiev, this is your recording.