Debussy Suite Bergamasque

[gradus]

A great love of mine with that wonderful opening, do other piano-fanciers have any favourite versions? I always have the Pascal Roge Decca set in the car.

[umslopogaas]

I have just one recording, a fairly late Decca stereo LP of Debussy's piano works, vol. 1, played by Pascal Roge. Clearly I liked it enough to keep it and I shall have to play it again and remind myself of the music, I cant remember a note of it.

[richardfinegold]

I have Peter Frankel and Aldo Ciccoloni.

[BBMmk2]

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, complete cycle!

[cloughie]

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, complete cycle!

Many good versions inc Adni, Stott and Vasary.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Many good versions inc Adni, Stott and Vasary.

... and Gordon Fergus-Thompson, Livia Rev, Gieseking ...

[Ferretfancy]

Apart from Roge, I seem to have quite a few, How about Richter, Rev, Bavouzet( Complete piano music ),Vasary, Trpceski and Adni.
This music doesn't play itself, but it has received so many excellent performances, that it's really hard to choose just one.

[cloughie]

Apart from Roge, I seem to have quite a few, How about Richter, Rev, Bavouzet( Complete piano music ),Vasary, Trpceski and Adni.
This music doesn't play itself, but it has received so many excellent performances, that it's really hard to choose just one.

I forgot to mention the individually Gallic style of Samson Francois.

[akiralx]

I like Kocsis but Bavouzet surpasses him I think.

[Pianorak]

Surprised to find that the only complete set I have is the one by Gordon Fergus-Thompson. M Lympany confines herself to the Prelude and S Francois to Clair de lune. I expect there are a few more excerpts among compilations. Ah, just remember the Gieseking set.

[BBMmk2]

Debussy's Suite Bergamasque is one I began playing myself, with advice from my teacher. I just don't know why the whole suite is hardly ever featured?

I am now playing J Y T's recording on Decca. Bliss!

[clive heath]

I'm with J Y T and Samson François for the following reason:

"After playing the 18th bar before the end of the second movement "Menuet" with all the Gs natural (the key signature has them sharp) for many years, I contacted Edition Peters around 1970 wondering whether I might be right. I pointed out that in the third bar following there is a sharp sign before the Gs as though to remind you of the key signature (these are called courtesy sharps/flats). The editor said that he could not agree but said he would pass on my idea to other editors and sure enough over the following decades a cursory glance at library/music shop copies of Debussy anthologies showed that suggestions that the Gs might be natural had been included. It was therefore very pleasing to hear a performance a few years ago by Jean Ives Thibaudet with the Gs natural." (quotes because this was put on my website several years ago)

........... and today on youtube, Samson François also. Bruno Canini and Claudio Arrau have the other (equally valid?) reading. You don't find many diminished 7ths in Debussy let alone a whole bar of it.

https://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk

[Dave2002]

The IMSLP site shows a score with implicit G sharps in the bar in question - indeed in two scanned versions of the 1905 publication. http://imslp.org/wiki/Suite_bergamas...ssy,_Claude%29