Customer Reviews

Debussy: Clair de lune & Other Piano Favourites

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Francois-Joël Thiollier has recorded much of Debussy's piano music for Naxos. This CD appears to be a 'favorites' album drawn from several previous issues. The most familiar and probably the best-loved Debussy pieces are here, beginning with a dreamy (but somewhat soupily-recorded) 'Clair de lune' ('Moonlight'). [The cover illustration is a nice reproduction of Eugène Boudin's gorgeous 'The Effect of the Moon.'] As of yet Amazon has not listed the contents, so I shall do so: Clair de lune, La plus que lente, Arabesque Nos. 1 & 2, Le petit nègre, excerpts from The Children's Corner (The snow is dancing, The little shepherd, Golliwog's cakewalk), La soirée dans Grénade, Jardin sous la pluie, Valse romantique, Tarantelle styrienne, Toccata, Reflets dans l'eau, Poissons d'or, Mazurka, Révérie, The Girl with the Golden Hair, and The Engulfed Cathedral.

Thiollier often takes slower than usual tempi, and he often sounds rather deliberate or even stodgy as a result. This is not to say there aren't some quicker tempi taken: 'Le petit nègre' starts off with a real Gottschalkian verve, but when he comes to the second theme he backs off. 'Poissons d'or' ('Goldfish') swim excitedly (and beautifully). 'The snow is dancing' all right, but it seems to be doing a sarabande. These are pretty straight interpretations; one misses the drama or sadness in, say, Golliwog's Cakewalk. I think one problem in all these performances is a lack of crisp articulation. Debussy's soft-edged harmonies can lead a pianist to play in a flaccid, dreamy fashion and that works for some of the pieces, but on the whole Debussy requires more rhythmic spine, and that is often lacking here.

The primary thing going for this compilation is the price. But I couldn't recommend it to anyone other than someone on a sharply restricted budget and who wants these particular pieces. For somewhat more outlay, one could have performances by say, the fabled Michelangeli or the spectacular Kocsis or the legendary Gieseking.

TT=78:10

Scott Morrison

I have lost track of the amount of time I have spent listening to this wonderful song. The others on the CD are wonderful also, but Clare de lune is my all time favorite, and it has been since I was just a little girl. I wish I had a piano, I would simply learn to play this song, it is so beautiful, and if I could learn that one, I do believe I would be content to just play it.
If you want truly wonderul music, buy this, you will not be sorry.
Cheryl

I bought this more because of Twilight but I am a fan of classical and piano... Lovely music.

What can I say about Debussy that hasn't already been said throughout the years. Love his music. It's the only CD I use to relax. Weather I'm in the tub or in my car trying to calm down my road rage Debussy does the trick.

If you like lovely piano music, you will LOVE this. Great dinner music. And Clair de lune is the missing song from the Twilight soundtrack. Greatly missed. That is why I bought this, and the whole album is fantastic.

Collections are tricky. Either they fulfill your needs perfectly, leading to you wanting more, or they don't fulfill enough, leading to you wanting more. Either way, you're left with the uncomfortable feeling that "something"'s missing. Is that the case with this "favorites" CD? Yes.

Oh, this is a nice enough collection to get you into a Debussy mood, but after listening to it, I felt frustrated. Why, I thought, did I buy a collection? Now I would have to find MORE. Yes, I got the generic favorites. I now have "Clair de lune" and "Reverie" (my reasons for purchasing the CD), but the musical beauty made me want more and more, to the point where I got very frustrated. After all, collections only give you a taste. Now I need to find... MORE.

The rain quality can be either a plus or a minus. By "rain quality" I'm referring to a slightly fuzzy sound. Not the best quality, that is. It sounds like the radio on a rainy day, so while getting you in the mood perfectly, it's a bit... well. It's of lower quality, though it does enhance the mood. I personally like it, but facts are facts.

While I listen to this CD often, I think that it's probably better just to jump straight to full CDs. No snippets. While enjoyable, it's not amazing and it leaves you with the slight sense of, "...well?". So... well?

Debussy's work collected here is beautiful! Thank you for a great experience I can keep repeating.

I have looked for this song and composer for so many years, since I first saw Frankie & Johnny. I love it and it stays in my car.

This is just light airy beautiful classical music in a tinkling piano sound. Claire de lune comes alive from the past old movie and now goes into history on the Twilight series. Edward Cullen plays it so beautifully. This music is so pretty that it really adds to the new movie.

A long time ago, I started playing some of the music on this CD. Technically, it is very difficult, but with the right interpretation, technique and talent, it can be done. The Engulfed Cathedral is my all time favorite piece, but I also like the other pieces.
The volume is varied a lot on this CD, but that really tells me how well this is played. I own a powerful piano like the one played on here and it is VERY difficult to play some of the music as softly and as fast paced as is done on this CD.

The Second Arabesque and Sarabande are my favorite pieces that reflect flexibility to play both a slow rate as well as a fast pace. The Arabesque has a lot of awkward rhythm in it (2 notes per beat in one hand and 3 notes per beat in the other hand).

I would probably play some of the music at a slightly slower pace, but that's up to personal preference. Impressionist music is left up to interpretation. I have this CD playing a LOT so I can study its music, relax by it and overall zone out with it.

Debussy has always been my favorite composer. His music is sort of like jazz because it has awkward rhythms, sounds and switches key signatures in one piece, but somehow returns back to the original theme. This is somewhere in between classical and jazz as far as a style of music, but it kind of stands on its own as well.