Debussy: Images I/Images II/Children's Corner

Claude Debussy (Composer), Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
• Composer: Claude Debussy
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001G6F
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,146 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Top 10 Debussy Keyboard Albums of All Time, July 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Debussy: Images I/Images II/Children's Corner (Audio CD)

...which is quite a mouthful considering that it was released in 1971, long after the "Golden Era" of virtuoso pianism had ended. But with the so-called "mad genius of the keyboard" known as A.B. Michelangeli (1920 - 1995) at the helm, it became a huge winner both for Debussy and Deutsche Grammophon, as well as for the world of recorded music at large. As a matter of fact, this was one of the most swiftly and unanimously praised albums to come out of "The Little Yellow Flower" label's catalog. Indeed, Michelangeli's Debussy garnered such instant recognition that even the earliest pressings left the factory having their jackets already affixed with numerous gold stickers trumpeting the disc's critical prize-winnings. Among these were the Edison Prize (United States), the Prix du Disq (France) and the Deutscher Schall Platten Preis (Germany).

Despite Michelangeli's justifiably deserved reputation for delivering the goods in performances of Ravel and Rachmaninov's piano concertos, his Scarlatti and Brahms, and occasional flashes of brilliance with the standard lineup of titanic composers, this Debussy solo piano album is possibly the most repeatedly enjoyable offering from his rather small recorded legacy. Michelangeli comes as close to "owning" these pieces as have any of the legends more celebrated or strongly linked to the interpretation of the French repertoire, foremost being Gieseking, Casadesus and Moravec. Yes, it's almost regrettable to say it, but this album is likely to move into the front-runner position in your collection, even if you've gotten used to some old tried-and-true favorites. It is a fairly indisputable fact that nobody has ever played nor ever again will play Debussy like Walter Gieseking did in the 1930s; but distant, scratchy monaural sound does not constitute a benchmark for most modern ears. This album does.

Which brings us to the sound. The stereo taping was a well-engineered room-filler with just the right touch of reverberation. No single channel is overbearing in tone or timbre, and harshness, even in the more volatile passages of the second Images book, is a non-existent detriment. Mind you, this album never exactly had the presence of an RCA shaded dog, but the quality is more than adequate. As for the transfer, this was an early vinyl-to-CD jump dating all the way back to 1987. (It is also the only Michelangeli on DG which remains in print, attesting to its popularity lo, these many years.) Consequently, you will find that it neither deviates from the original analog tapes, nor does it quite come up to the vinyl pressing's standard. In other words, it's like 99% of the compact disc re-issues out there; not great but pretty darned acceptable. Luckily, it's hard to foul up solo piano recordings, as there isn't much to lose in the transfer. Not to mention that DG's vinyl pressings of the 1970s were pretty flimsy affairs, and hardly audiophile candidates. A decent CD player is going to bring this classic through A-okay.

At any rate, you'll be too entranced to notice anything else but keyboard artistry at an exceeding standard. Add this one to the top of the pile, and never regret it; here is one of Claude Debussy's shining hours. There can be no mystery as to how the album remains a slice of perfection to this day when you consider the reclusive, inscrutable pianist's own words from the original LP liner notes: "Asked when it was that the tonal world of Debussy's had disclosed itself to Benedetti Michelangeli, he answered without the slightest hesitation: `It has always been my world; this music has always been my music from the very start.' "

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The All Time Great Recordings, September 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Debussy: Images I/Images II/Children's Corner (Audio CD)

This album, originally released about 1973, is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard. Twenty five years later I still cannot believe that one man with ten fingers could produce the sounds Michelangeli coaxes and caresses from the keyboard. The blending of techinique and emotion is so balanced and seamless it's as if he becomes one with the piano and the music. "Reflections in the Water" and "Poissons D'Or" shimmer and the climax in "Movement" will raise the hair on the back of your neck. "Homage a Rameau" is stunning as Michelangeli builds and layers sonorities. "Children's Corner" is given a warm and lovely interpretation, with "The Snow Is Dancing" a particular highlight. Whenever I hear it I am all of a sudden catching snowflakes on my tongue in a perfect winter wonderland. The recording is flawless and the transfer to CD retains all the warmth and excitement of the original.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars art of the gods, January 9, 2006

By 

J. Anderson (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Debussy: Images I/Images II/Children's Corner (Audio CD)

One of Michelangeli's supreme recordings! The Images books sublimely wrought, a pianist of excruciating gifts with his mystifying inner world fully alive, and beautifully intimate sonics that are a model of restraint. What more can you ask for? Find me another recorded version of the Images to rival this one. Michelangeli gives us Debussy in gestures so natural as to be invisible. His Children's Corner is pure magic, profound, completely free; he proposes Debussy's as an art of revolutionary depth. Michelangeli's unerring conception is transparent and scintillating, richer than it appears, and ripe with truth. This is absolutely magisterial musical art in the throes of genius and high purpose. Discover the art of the gods. Overwhelming recommendation for a perfect recording.