Customer Reviews

Debussy's Greatest Hits

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Claude Debussy is perhaps the most understated composer in the history of man. His ability to compose both on the piano and for orchestra is unmatched, in my humble opinion. The fact that Debussy was able to also arrange many contemporary and previous composers' works just adds to his resume. He had a gift, pure and simple.

Although this album doesn't (well, honestly it couldn't) contain all the best of Debussy's catalog (you would need his entire catalog), it does certainly contain some of his best work. The entire CD is a beautifully aranged, beautifully played, well recorded compilation with good sound mixing and it is a respectful tribute to a truly great composer.

"Clair de Lune" is perhaps one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever composed; this is the orchestrated version, but the piano version is nice if you get the chance to listen to it (I recommend the entire suite, Suite Bergamasque, for any piano lover, but I digress). "Arabesque No. 1" is superb. "Fetes" is both haunting and airy. "Reverie" is the best piano piece I have ever heard. "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" is also a wonderful piano piece. "The Sunken Cathedral" is dark and mysterious, a true wonder.

The rest of the album is fantastic. Listed above are just my top, personal favorites from the disc. I listen to this CD at least once a week, but often more. It is perfect for relaxation, for listening while reading, or for my personal favorite use, to block out noise while I am writing.

I would recommend this to any classical lover. If you have not heard Debussy's music, you must get this CD; it will have you ordering more of his compositions almost immediately. The man was a genius.

I would also add that if you enjoy this, you should continue your Debussy experience with the following: Orchestral Works I and Orchestral Works II; Thibaudet Complete Debussy Piano, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 or Pascal Roge's Preludes, Debussy II and Debussy III; and finally, Complete Chamber Music. All of these discs are excellent and I highly recommend each to grow a Debussy collection.

Enjoy!!!

The music and recording quality are excellent. The only disappointment for me was the exclusion of "Nocturne No. 1- Nuages." I would recommend this for anyone as a general introduction to Debussy's music.

If you only get one Debussy CD, or are new to Debussy (like I was when I bought it) get this one! Even though I was hoping Girl with the Flaxen Hair would be performed with more than just a piano, it still sounds beautiful, as does Claire de Lune, which is (thankfully) played by an orchestra. (the other version I have of Claire de Lune is performed with a piano alone, which didn't seem to do the song justice) I get completely lost in La Mer and Prelude..., and I can't help but smile every time I hear Golliwog's.. (which is also a charming recording). Definitely pick this one up!

The music that is featured on this CD represents the heart of Debussy's writings. The fun and adventurous sounds won't soon be forgetten. It would be difficult to pick a favorite piece off of this CD. The broad range of emotions on this CD includes the joyous tunes of "Golliwogg's Cake-Walk" to the mystical harmonies of "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun." It's a very exciting CD to add to your classical music library.

"The direct relation of music is not to ideas, but emotions. Music, in the works of its greatest masters, is more marvelous, more mysterious than poetry." ~ Henry Giles ~

Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862 in St. Germaine-en-Laye, France. He was known to be a hedonist from youth who was drawn to the luxuries of life especially gourmet cooking. He was described as a shy student at Paris Conservatoire. In 1880 at the age of eighteen, he was hired by Tchaikovsky's well-heeled patroness to be the music teacher of her children and traveled with her family as a pianist.

In 1890, he began composing his first composition, "Suite Bergamasque," which includes my number one favorite from his entire body of work, "Clair de Lune," played here by the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy as the conductor. This piece of music is as beautiful as a landscape painted by Auguste Renoir. I believe that if Debussy was a painter, he would be Renoir who had a keen eye for everything that is artfully beautiful. Both possessed brilliant, inspired minds and excelled in their respective art forms.

"Reverie" is also one of my top ten classical favorites of all-time. It is one of the best tracks in this collection of Debussy's greatest hits. It was played by one of the brilliant and renowned classical pianists, Philippe Entremont. Another great piece is "Arabesque No. 1: Andante con Moto" from "Deux Arabesques." This performance features soprano saxophonist Branford Marsalis, a fine musician not only in the field of jazz but classical as well, together with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton.

Debussy died on March 25, 1918 but his timeless music lives on. His music is the kind that stays in your heart for as long as you live and meant to be enjoyed forever. I heartily recommend it to dedicated listeners of classical music. This is a welcome addition to your collection. Just immerse yourself in the world of beautiful music and be mesmerized by Debussy's great masterpieces.

I listen to this in the car after a really lousy day and it all gets a little better. I know next to nothing about about classical music and can not correctly pronouce his name but I do like his work.

This is a good selection to get to know the music of Debussy. It provides great examples of his style of writing music and his impressionalistic nature. Don't let the fact that La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin and Clair de Lune are performed on piano cause you to not buy this c.d. Those songs were originally written for solo piano, and I actually think it takes away from the songs to have them orchestrated.

Debussy was a master of writing for the piano with his choice of harmonies. The solo piano selections are excellent.

My mother was a classically trained musician. She was not only a highly accomplished violinist, but she was also an incredible pianist. When she was still in her earthly form, our house was always filled with music. If it wasn't her playing the violin or the piano, then we always had something on the Hi-Fi...hee hee...Hi-Fi...that sounded so high tech back then, now it just sounds like something you might get doing something unprotected...but anyway, I grew up around all kinds of music. We could be listening to Chopin one minute and the next, Frank Zappa and it's this kind of upbringing that made the weirdo...I mean, ecclectic individualization of Life I am today.

So, even though I continue to have varied tastes in music, I do have my favorites and one of them is dear 'ol Claude Debussy. My mother was a Pisces and I, being born exactly two weeks after her birthday, am also a Pisces and Pisceans, being rather dreamy, moody, sensitive, and open are "suckers" for any kind of music that touches the emotions because most
water signs live by their emotions rather than by their intellect. I happen to be a double Pisces which only means that I am jacked up x 2. Not really, but I am a very emotional person. I have, however, learned to use my sensitivity rather than having my sensitivity using me which only tends to make one fragile.

So, what the heck does all this have to do with this particular collection of music?

Plenty.

This music when played during periods of relaxation and meditation can open you up to the deeper levels of life that are always just right beneath the surface. So many of us are so distracted by outer appearances and conditions that we fail to see that all our outer life really is, is just a symbol...a metaphor...for what is going on inwardly. If your life is confusing, upsetting, chaotic it could be that your inner life is also confused, upset, and full of chaos.

Or maybe I'm just talking out my aspirations.

I invite you to wake up an hour early and listen to this CD while doing some light stretches, a few minutes of some just breathing deeply and slowly, and maybe even 15 minutes of so of just writing or doodling and don't let this music just be "white noise"...hey, I think I just created a name for my friend's rap band...but take this music deep into your soul...breathe it in...breathe it out...for just one hour "be" the music.

I think that Debussy was a genius. He didn't just compose music, music composed him. If you listen very, very carefully you will be able to tell that Debussy listened very closely to his soul. It was as if he asked a Heavenly Council for permission to use music that is clearly not of this world. Yes, his music is Impressionist, but it is also Expressionist; an expression of Pure Love, Pure Light, Pure Life the realms from which all things seen as well as unseen come forth from. Listen to Reverie, La Mer (all three portions), or, of course, Claire de Lune and you will quickly realize that this "mere mortal" tapped the eternal and the earthreal into finite compositions that transcend mere music and puts it in a completely different category.

So, after all this why am I giving this CD four stars...I have a real challenge with the name of the CD, Debussy's Greatest Hits. For God's sakes, this is Debussy, it's not Britney Spears or Barry Manillow. Debussy didn't create "hits", he created something that surpasses such a shallow judgment. His music is truly an observation of the Divine coming into form. The Divine does not create "Greatest Hits", the Divine only creates masterpieces and it's only our perceptions and our interpretations of these masterpieces that make it hit or miss. Which, of course has nothing to do with the Divine, but everything to do with us.

I urge you to buy this CD and let yourself dream again. Get out of your head and back into your heart. Even if you don't do the excercises I suggested; the breathing, the writing, the stretching, just allow this music to wash over you and heal you in ways you never thought possible.

Stretch forth and be the blessing you were created to be. Make this CD a prelude to your day and miracles will begin to happen.

I promise...

Peace & Blessings,
john, 'the Light Coach'

Nice piano music for those that like Claude Debussy. Does not live up to the title (Greatest Hits) IMHO, but I like it.

This is a great CD to listen to after a stressfull day at work. Debussy was an impressionist musician, or that's what they called him during his life. Most people don't know that there were impressionists that were not painters, so this classical musician is a breath of fresh air even for those that do not like classical music.