COMPOSERS: Debussy
LABELS: RCA Red Seal Twofer
WORKS: Préludes, Book 1. Préludes, Book 2
PERFORMER: Catherine Collard (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 74321 49185 2 Reissue (1995)
You get two discs for the price of one here, but the discs are only about 42 and 43 minutes’ worth. The performances tell it like it is – or almost, for not all Debussy’s very demanding contrasts of dynamics are observed, and I imagine Collard has small hands, though she makes splitting big stretches sound quite acceptable. She doesn’t have the imagination of Zoltán Kocsis, the finesse of the late Paul Jacobs, nor the power of Krystian Zimerman, and you are always conscious of these performances as piano playing: they are not transcendental. The 1993 recording is bright and clear, but a bit thin. Adrian Jack
Debussy: Préludes, Book 1. Préludes, Book 2
You get two discs for the price of one here, but the discs are only about 42 and 43 minutes’ worth. The performances tell it like it is – or almost, for not all Debussy’s very demanding contrasts of dynamics are observed, and I imagine Collard has small hands, though she makes splitting big stretches sound quite acceptable. She doesn’t have the imagination of Zoltán Kocsis, the finesse of the late Paul Jacobs, nor the power of Krystian Zimerman, and you are always conscious of these performances as piano playing: they are not transcendental.
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:33 pm