Customer Reviews

Debussy: Preludes 1; L'isle Joyeuse

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I grew up on Giesiking n' thought the choice of tempi, sensibility, coolness he brought was definitive, but these pieces grow, a piece of music transforms itself over time,like taking a photo of the same street,things change (not just the obvious either) this is what many I think refuse to comprehend, conductors who think they for instance know the correct tempi, no one else of course knows, only thet KNOW.We also have lived through quite a bit of modernity, the experience of hearing new works all has some influence on what we hear right, at least I would think so,Arrogance of what musicians think they know serves no end and renders music into a museum,sterile, cold, not alive,(look at the fine readings of Bruckner and Mahler Boulez was able to summon,something I saw many years ago,(see my Bruckner 8th recording review with DGG; Boulez/Vienna)( But when it occurred no one thought Boulez could do anything new or innovative with post-Romantics.)

Pollini although he takes liberties in tempi are infintesimal in terms of the exciting engaging gesturing he gets, he never sacrifices a fascinating timbre,as in "le vent sur. . . " he allows Debussy's modernity to come to full fruition, the piano sonoric canvas is well balanced as well,as in "voiles,where he plays with the overtones heard, a real modernist and the opening, "Danses des Delphes",here the balance is extraordinary,as in the "Les parfums. . . " where he plays it like a salon piece for which it is partially intended,(Debussy was strongly influenced by Erik Satie,the realm of simplicity before all else)this Pollini does in order to make music live I think you need to bring these other-lifeworld qualities and sensibilities to the music otherwise it is simply predictable music making, music to watch the clock with, Debussy strove to transcend the mere obvious, he broke all the rules for timbre,and time,spatializations of timbres(his ballet "Jeux" is a better example of the highest sophisticated sense of musical space) for love of timbre, and Pollini fully appreciates this aspect of his aesthetic. Technique and the modern sensibility is a mere given in Pollini I think it allows him again to project the colours anywhere he wants without sacrificing line nor melodic direction. His tone is a bit more fluffier at times than Zimerman,who has a more modern approach with a cold aggressive granite tone that also works quite well if you light a fire under this. Pollini is somewhere in between he has the discipline but doesn't allow it to consume the readings where the "preludes" are such and nothing else. I think what we want out of a pianist is to always search for another dimension of the music; if it exists, if not! one hearing is enough.

In the usual unthinking way of Amazon's paid reviewers, this one worked backward from a preconceived notion about Pollini (cool, detached elegance) without actually listening to the peformance. I havee not only heard all the rival sets of Debussy Preludes cited as better, I've compared them side-by-side with Pollini. He has nothing to fear. In terms of imagination, boldness, secure techniqe, and grasp of Debussy's elusive idiom, Pollini is beyond reproach. I don't know why he didn't follow up this 1998 CD of Book I with another devoted to Book II; perhaps it's coming one day.

Stylistically, Pollini isn't as gauzy or wistful as Gieseking, nor as sparkling and brittle as Thibaudet, not as easygoing as Freire or as volatile as Horowitz. There's room for different expressive approaches in Debussy. What sets Pollini apart is his ability to capture each Prelude as one arc of expression; you feel completely engrossed from first note to last, the way you do when Furtwangler conducts the Eroica. Debussy gave these little pieces their evocative titles after he wrote them. They aren't so much miniatures in a picture gallery of Impressionist art as purely musical inventions, and it takes a master to make each one sound like a single, original thing rather than a series of evocative gestures. Gieseking famously had that ability, and so does Pollini.

DG has not always been good to this pianist with the best instrument or the best sound, but here both are of a high standard. the timing of 43 min. is quite stingy, even though the single filler, L'isle joyeuse, Is brilliantly done.

Pollini's fans were gifted in 1999. After the two Brahms Piano Concertos and especially Chopin's Ballades - one of the greatest CDs ever recorded - the Maestro brings Debussy's Preludes up to a new standard of perfection. Benedetti-Michelangeli was great in Debussy. Under Pollini's fingers, these twelve intimate gems recover all their poetry. The sound is, at the same time, very pure and full of spaces, the space between the notes that is called "music". I heard these Preludes live in Amsterdam. Miracle: the recording offers the same emotion and tears. Thank you, Maestro !

I had believed musique francais played by non French musicians does not deserve to listen to for very long time, for over ten years. I have so many favorites non French musicians but when they play French music, it is music but not musique francais. I had been seeing there is much difference between played by French and by non French. I don't still figure out why, anyway.

However when I listen to this CD, what I felt was like, "Mervelleux! super!". I didn't expect that quiality. I bought the CD because of feeling like "Pollini plays Debussy? Interesting, OK, buy it". That is it. I never expected much. However he struck me again as he had with his Stravinsky and Boulez.

Pollini has been my dearest pianist fo far. Needless to say his playing is clear and exact like digital graphics. That clearness and precision produce his sound shine.

Debussy music is sound of light and reflection, with great performance, you can listen to light and reflection. And also there is definitely French intonation. Italian Pollini perfectely reproduce as the music is supposed to be.

He proved non French musicians could talk musique francais with their hands.

Pollini does it once again. The finest recording of the Debussy Preludes. Also, unlike the early years with DGG - recorded sound is perfection.

I have always had some problems with Pollini's approach to music, especially his way with Debussy. Even the glossiest von Karajan performances seem fresh after listening to a recording like this one by Pollini of Debsussy. With all due respect to my favorite critic of the keyboard, Harris Goldsmith, Pollini too often can be justifiably accused of a surface superficiality - for all his intense skill and carefulness he ends up sounding rather straightforward. This Debussy CD issue finds him hopelessly loud with an unending use of full tones - even when it's clear Debussy expects something very different Pollini continues to make each note sound out completely. DGG doesn't help matters: the recorded sound frequently smears notes, even during passages of moderate volume. I recently listened to a recording of the Russian pianist Vladimir Sofronitsky from 1952 - that is, a recording made over fifty years ago, in mono and recorded by Russian engineers in concert - and found the resulting recorded sound vastly more like a piano.

Pollini's performances of Debussy may have the powerful full sonorities of a Josef Lhevinne, but where are the whisperly delicate traceries Debussy demands as well? Not here. Pollini might do well to read some of his own countrymen's Renaissance works on the painting of colors. As for characterizing individual pieces? Frankly, Pollini plays as if he's more interested in other aspects of the music. He seems to think he's recording the Debussy Etudes, not the Preludes, with their unique individualities and marvelous mixtures of keyboard resources. Forgoing the music's variety makes for a disappointing program. The ongoing tonality Pollini adopts - some might say with a relentless refusal to differentiate, however impressive as pure music-making - loses much of the appeal a more varied approach in these highly different short pieces would give.

To be just, Pollini is a commanding magisterial performer - I just wish he could lighten up his attack for Debussy and sound less a solid block of wood. A little looser way with rhythms would go a long way, too. For a spendid alternative the late Egorov brought much more poetry and gobs more individuality to Debussy - sadly, it's difficult to find his CDs these days. If you like Boulez in Mahler or Bruckner you may like Pollini in Debussy - but I urge you to listen to a pianist with a more poetic reputation - I think you'll be happy you did.

Playing at the highest level. Pollini's playing of the preludes can be compared only with Walter Gieseking 1950's recording's. An astonishing achievment and the recording quality is clear and resonant. Now we wait for the next instalment of Debussy's works for piano (hopefully the Preludes Book II) played by Pollini.

Flat and a bit sedated, rather than dreamy or evocative as I believe Pollini is trying to attempt, lacking the crystalline quirkiness of tone or sharp contrasts of color I identify with the music of Debussy. I don't know if it is the engineering, but the sonority is way too deep and bassy, allowing much of the music to drown in itself. This is refined playing, and I adore Pollini, his recordings of Chopin's Polonaises and Liszt's B flat sonata are personal favorites, but I'm just more in the Gieseking school of playing Debussy, where a colder, impersonal interpretation that concentrates on the possibilities of the piano's coloring allows the natural vagueness of the compositions to speak for itself. I don't know much about impressionism or how Debussy preferred his music to be played, but I like my Debussy with a little more fire and clarity.

Great music, sensitive playing, crystal clear sound. Piano lovers, buy it