Looking for a good Debussy complete piano

[Fregly]

I'd like to get a box set. I don't know who plays Debussy particularly well or is considered a specialist. I wondered about Gieseking, even with the marginal sound.

 

[mansr]

I got this set at a steep discount a while back: https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/d...-for-piano-jean-efflam-bavouzet/0095115174326

While I'm no Debussy expert, I have no complaints about the recordings.

 

[Robin L]

The Gieseking set I've got now is ripped from the redbook layer of the SACDs that came out a while ago. That is the best transfer of the material I've heard so far, but honestly the stream of it from various sources ought to good enough. I've got Amazon music's upper tier, the stream sounds the same as my rip. Gordon Fergus-Thompson made a great set in the early digital era, great sound on CD. The Amazon stream sounds wonky. There's a used copy on Amazon for a little over $18. There's another going for $900. You decide.

 

[Vincent Kars]

My favourite: https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Preludes-Arturo-Benedetti-Michelangeli/dp/B000001G56

 

[Mariner9]

I have this collection: https://www.discogs.com/Debussy-Phi...es-Images-I-II-Childrens-Corner/master/403291

 

[Robin L]

Famous, but not complete:

My favourite: https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Preludes-Arturo-Benedetti-Michelangeli/dp/B000001G56

Not complete. Not all that well recorded either:

I have this collection: https://www.discogs.com/Debussy-Phi...es-Images-I-II-Childrens-Corner/master/403291

Also not complete, but very good and very different:

 

[brimble]

My favourite: https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Preludes-Arturo-Benedetti-Michelangeli/dp/B000001G56

Yeah - I can't absolutely guarantee it's the best, but anyone would be crazy not to at least try the Michelangeli.

Slightly off topic, but if anyone's interested in the violin sonata, there is (probably literally) the most amazing performance I've heard of any classical piece ever, by Kyung Wha Chung and Radu Lupu. The sound quality of the CD is terrible so you may as well listen to it on youtube

 

[Fregly]

The Michelangeli has had a recent remaster. This does not always mean improvement......

https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Prel...ds=Michelangeli+debussy&qid=1608142041&sr=8-1

 

[Robin L]

The Michelangeli has had a recent remaster. This does not always mean improvement......

https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Prel...ds=Michelangeli+debussy&qid=1608142041&sr=8-1

And, again, this is not "The Complete", there's two CDs worth of additional music in Walter Gieseking's and Gordon Fergus-Thompson's recordings. Another note, Walter Gieseking and Gordon Fergus-Thompson both have a tone quality that mutes the potential percussive sounds of the piano, unlike Michelangeli and Jacobs, who both produce a much more hard-edged tone. My sense is that Debussy's is a softer sound world.

 

[SMc]

There's a lot of Debussy piano music and many good performances. The Preludes and the Images are the most famous works with recordings in modern sound from Bavouzet, Aimard, and Thiollier among others.

I have an interest in hearing pianos from the era Debussy composed on as can be heard on Jos Immerseel's recording of the first book of Preludes. If you can wait for the backorder at Prestomusic, Alain Planes has the complete works on a variety of pianos for a bargain price.

 

[Guermantes]

I'll second the Bavouzet for the complete set. He has a more powerful and dynamic sound than some of the others (I've heard it described as "muscular") but is still lyrical, his technique is effortless and it's a modern recording with a nice balance of piano and acoustic.

My other go-to for the complete piano pieces is Michel Béroff's set on the Denon label, but this seems a little scarce outside Japan:
https://www.discogs.com/Claude-Debussy-Michel-Beroff-Complete-Solo-Piano-Works/release/10369094
https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/COCQ-84347