Search - Claude Debussy, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli :: Claude Debussy: Préludes, Book 1

Perfection Plus

Mr. Keys | Toronto, Ontario | 04/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have always loved Michelangeli. Some may say he is cold and impersonal, but that is not the case. He is aristocratic. Aristocracy doesn't stoop down to a personal level that a peasant does, and Michelangeli enobles his music in a hierarchical fashion. I like two interpretations of the preludes, one is this one by Michelangeli and the other is by Alfred Cortot. While both are diametrically opposed, both are equally valid. Anyone who would critcize this recording is only showing jealousy. Sometimes it is more important to listen to an individual as an individual, not as someone filtered through one's own personal preferences. When we can play as well as Michelangeli then we are in a position to complain about this or that. While there are things that he does which I might not have done in the same way, I recognize from his point of view why such a choice was made. This is the difference between hearing and listening. The reviewer who gave this recording 3 stars should think about this. There is a difference between what is great and what is liked. Just some food for thought."

An apollinean gaze of Debussy

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 05/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Benedetti Michelangelli was a poet, I mean a creator. Besides his huge talent and mesmerizing pianism, he also owed the special gify of overpowering his audience. And the same statement works for Kempff , Francois , Richter, Sandor or Istomin .

Listening to him inmediatly a weird atmosphere creates and you're sure of being in front of an artist who made sing the piano. He looked like a reinassance man.

Michelangelli redefined the craft playing Debussy's preludes. His playing lacks emotion, but that's not deniable , he talks about memory , he is more interested in let floating the note instead sounds incorporean as Gieseking does.

May be you feel a little disturbed for that approach like I did , because for many years I used to Gieseking playing in these works.

But it's another observation angle and it's worthy and even surprising.

Michelangelli will never let you down. Buy both CD the first and second book and you'll understand once more why Michelangelli was one of the most idyosincratic pianists in any age."

Prepare for wonder

J. Anderson | Monterey, CA USA | 01/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michelangeli's playing here is like the finest alabaster. Such playing! It's impossible to resist the pull of his beautiful world. I think the secret to loving this absolute musician is loving the composer he's playing, and it's never truer than with his Debussy. Gieseking is formidable, but Michelangeli's Debussy is opened up until there is no Other - only one movement, one thought. Michelangeli's is an holistic practice of Union, and aren't we lucky for that. These are irreplacable recordings in every way. This is piano playing of an extraordinary sensibility and simplicity, and it's not for everybody. Michelangeli loves the composer more than do many pianists, and it makes music's truth revolutionary. An unthinkable feast, but the gods be thanked. If you don't know this pianist's art, get these recordings, and prepare for wonder. Absolutely recommended."