Composer: Claude Achille Debussy
Performer: Steven Osborne
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDA67530
Release: 2006
Size: 180 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Préludes
Book 1
01. I. Danseuses de Delphes: Lent et grave
02. II. Voiles: Modéré
03. III. Le vent dans la plaine: Animé
04. IV. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir: Modéré
05. V. Les collines d’Anacapri: Très modéré
06. VI. Des pas sur la neige: Triste et lent
07. VII. Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest: Animé et tumultueux
08. VIII. La fille aux cheveux de lin: Très calme et doucement expressif
09. IX. La sérénade interrompue: Modérément animé
10. X. La cathédrale engloutie: Profondément calme
11. XI. La danse de Puck: Capricieux et léger
12. XII. Minstrels: Modéré
Book 2
13. I. Brouillards: Modéré
14. II. Feuilles mortes: Lent et mélancolique
15. III. La Puerta del Vino: Mouvement de Habanera
16. IV. Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses: Rapide et léger
17. V. Bruyères: Calme
18. VI. «General Lavine»—excentric: Dans le style et le mouvement d’un Cake-Walk
19. VII. La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune: Lent
20. VIII. Ondine: Scherzando
21. IX. Hommage à S Pickwick Esq PPMPC: Grave
22. X. Canope: Très calme et doucement triste
23. XI. Les tierces alternées: Modérément animé
24. XII. Feux d’artifice: Modérément animé
Steven Osborne has already made a name for himself in French music with a disc of Alkan and a profoundly moving performance of Messiaens Vingt Regards. Here he reaches between those two to tackle one of the pinnacles of the piano repertoireDebussys two books of Preludes. These works have been central to Stevens repertoire for many years and he brings them to the studio after many public performances and much reflection. He has worked from the most up-to-date Urtext edition which clarifies Debussys thought in many places, particularly with regard to tempo relationships within La cathedrale engloutie and a missing bar in Les tierces alternees. In a crowded field Osborne need fear no comparisons: the pianism is exquisite and the interpretations are of a rare depth and subtletya recording to rival the very best!
While there is much to admire in Steven Osborne’s 2009 Hyperion recording of Rachmaninov’s complete preludes, some fans of the composer may ultimately find themselves dissatisfied with his performances. Osborne is clearly a virtuoso with a wonderfully varied color palette and a way of balancing melody and harmony for maximum effectiveness There are some strong elements; his fleet fingers in the A flat major Prelude, his sumptuous sonorities in the C sharp minor Prelude, his galloping rhythms in the G minor Prelude, or his rolling left hand arpeggios in the B flat major Prelude, in addition to his overall command, control, and technique. Other listeners may question Osborne’s feel for Rachmaninov’s music. The restless melancholy of the B minor Prelude, the volatile passion of the F minor Prelude, and the spooky atmosphere of the G sharp minor Prelude are here, but to nowhere near the same degree as in other accounts of the pieces by veteran Rachmaninov pianists such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, where the music’s hyper-Romantic emotional content is superbly expressed in wholly idiomatic performances. Hyperion’s digital sound, though clear and colorful, is surprisingly a bit thin and a tad distant.