Debussy : Preludes, Book I & II
Hiroko Sasaki – Pleyel 1873
Released by: Piano Classics
When pianist Hiroko Sasaki was looking for an instrument to record the Debussy Preludes on, she happened to spot a strange looking instrument, which turned out to be a Pleyel concert grand built in 1873, and she instantly fell in love with it. The piano, built in a beautifully ornamented harpsichord case, offers her the special sonorities, dynamics and colors that she thinks are essential in Debussy, who himself owned a Pleyel piano, his favorite instrument.
Excerpt from Book I
V. Les collines d'Anacapri (The hills of Anacapri - アナカプリの丘)
Excerpt from Book II
VII. La terrasse des clair de lune (Terrace for Moonlight audiences - 月の光が降り注ぐテラス）
“(4 out of 5 stars) [A] beautiful sound Debussy would have recognized.”
“exquisite proportion, rare poetic understatement, and a connoisseur’s in-depth grasp of many unusual textual options.”
