BaL 24.03 18 - Debussy: Preludes Book 1

[verismissimo]

Centenary of D's death Sunday ...

[ardcarp]

Or if you have a Dropbox account or similar links can be made to audio files.

It would certainly be interesting to hear Debussy played on forumistas' pianos...i.e. sounding different from the modern Steinway Model D. On today's CotW the Labeque sisters were playing En Blanc et Noir and the sheer clangour was..well..terrifying. I don't believe Debussy envisaged or would have heard such brassy tones on the early 20th century instrument of whatever make.

I'm afraid my own contribution...assuming I could get the technology to work...would be the old warhorses of La Fille au C de L, La Cathedrale E. and Clair de Lune. Unless I got my head around something new, that is.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm afraid my own contribution...assuming I could get the technology to work...would be the old warhorses of La Fille au C de L, La Cathedrale E. and Clair de Lune. Unless I got my head around something new, that is.

I challenge any HIPPster to play La Cathedrale ... on a piano without a sostenuto pedal (like the one Debussy played at the time of its composition). Half-pedalling provides only limited compensation.

[ardcarp]

I challenge any HIPPster to play La Cathedrale ... on a piano without a sostenuto pedal (like the one Debussy played at the time of its composition). Half-pedalling provides only limited compensation.

Can someone (to save my trawling through a million posts/PhD theses) point me to the info about Debussy's piano sans pedale? Was the pedal bust? I don't believe any piano was ever deliberately made without one. I played on an 18th century Adam Beyer fortepiano once....and it most certainly had a damper lift pedal.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Can someone (to save my trawling through a million posts/PhD theses) point me to the info about Debussy's piano sans pedale? Was the pedal bust? I don't believe any piano was ever deliberately made without one. I played on an 18th century Adam Beyer fortepiano once....and it most certainly had a damper lift pedal.

The sostenuto pedal is the middle pedal, which only sustains notes being held down by the fingers at the moment when the pedal is pressed. Many pianos don't have them. The sustaining (right) pedal is fitted to all pianos. The terminology is a bit confusing.

[ardcarp]

Thanks for the clarification Alpie. I, my sister and our piano teacher (c.1950s) never had a sostenuto pedal at our disposal...and we all had a crack at La Cathedrale. I still haven't got one, and I haven't got middle pedal envy. Though the organist in me thinks it would be nice to sustain the odd 'pedal' note e.g. at the end of Bach's Fugue in C minor, 48 book 1 no.2

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's playable without the 3rd pedal, but is liable to sound smudgy.

[ardcarp]

It's playable without the 3rd pedal, but is liable to sound smudgy.

I think we were taught that Debussy was meant to sound 'smudgy'.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oh, you mean the idea that Impressionism is music that sounds as though it's being played in thick fog?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Anyway, it's about to begin.

[BBMmk2]

Oh no! A two-fer!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Not bad so far, but I hope Iain Burnside is going to interrupt Andrew McGregor during the rest of this morning's Record Review. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[mikealdren]

Sadly Iain has not had time to consider a few significant pianists, less McGregor and more reviewing please!

[Bergonzi]

Very good BAL. I liked all of the four choices, and was surprisingly impressed with Osborne. Maybe download Thibaudet.

[Mal]

Sadly Iain has not had time to consider a few significant pianists, less McGregor and more reviewing please!

Yes, not even a mention of Gordon Fergus-Thompson, and Gieseking was shrugged off with one short clip and a "bells too slow" comment, although I rather liked his clip! I thought Thibaudet was a bit of a mixed bag, from the three clips we got - two great, one not so good. Haven't listened to my one set (GFT) for a while, so I'll go and do that now, but first impression is that I can stick with GFT, nothing had me thinking I must run out and buy a supplement. But all the players were sufficient to remind me what great music this is!

Of the clips I heard, the ones that made me sit up were Gieseking, Thibaudet, Egorov, Osborne, with Osborne taking the prize. Any comments about GFT compared to other sets would be appreciated - a lot of you seem to have Gordon Fergus-Thompson and several others!

I think BAL, in general, needs to concentrate more on the performances that "most critics" say are great, because discerning BAL listeners, who aren't Debussy specialists, are likely to have just one of these "most critics" sets. It would be great if they could get some impression about how their current library choice relates to the other performances. Here we surely needed more Gieseking and some GFT.