Search - Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Ivan Fischer :: Debussy: Solo Piano Music; Fantaisie; Ravel: Piano Concertos

Excellent value, refreshing interpretations

R. Gregory Capaldini | Arlington, VA United States | 11/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Philips has again come up with a budget 4-disc anthology that's hard to pass up -- five hours of music at under $8 per disc (less if you buy it used or on sale), all of it in excellent sound. Zoltan Kocsis has enough technique to play exactly as he wants, and his interpretations are refreshingly intelligent and never unduly showy. These recordings were made over a 14-year period, but the personality of the artist is consistent throughout. Other pianists have done great work with Debussy, and indeed, Philips's own Mitsuko Uchida did Debussy's Etudes so splendidly that the company evidently chose to omit these pieces here. No matter; if you're like me and had never heard "Hommage a Haydn" or "Ballade slave" before, you'll get to know these and a dozen other individual pieces along with the complete Preludes, Images, Arabesques, Children's Corner, Pour le piano, Estampes, and Suite bergamasque. Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra join in for the quasi-concerto Fantasie and for Ravel's two Concertos as a bonus. These last two really sparkle, and now I'm wondering what I've been missing by not putting a trip to Budapest on my wish list."