Claude Debussy: Préludes, Vol. 1; Images

by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

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Is Michelangeli's Debussy as good as they say? Could anything be that good? After all, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's '70s recordings of Debussy's Images and Préludes, Book 1, were hailed in their time as revolutionary, masterly, and uniquely compelling, and the encomiums have kept on through every subsequent re-release. In this 2005 re-release on Deutsche Grammophon's "Originals" series, the listener is asked again, is Michelangeli's Debussy as good as they say?Oh, yes, yes. Yes, they are. Michelangeli's command is complete: every nuance sounds in his playing. Michelangeli's colors are clear and lucid, but iridescent and luminous. Michelangeli's conception has the scope and scale of epic poetry, with each Prélude its own ode. Michelangeli's execution is Olympian: despite the passion he brings to his playing, it is the music that resounds in the Michelangeli's Debussy.However, about that sound: while the sound Deutsche Grammophon gave Michelangeli in the '70s was pristine and crystalline, and while... Read Less

Is Michelangeli's Debussy as good as they say? Could anything be that good? After all, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's '70s recordings of Debussy's Images and Préludes, Book 1, were hailed in their time as revolutionary, masterly, and uniquely compelling, and the encomiums have kept on through every subsequent re-release. In this 2005 re-release on Deutsche Grammophon's "Originals" series, the listener is asked again, is Michelangeli's Debussy as good as they say?Oh, yes, yes. Yes, they are. Michelangeli's command is ... Read More