Claude Debussy and his Friends/Pupils plays Debussy

[@ThePianoFiles]

What a wonderful collection of marvellous recordings - thank you for this!

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

You're welcome. I'm glad you like it!

[@scronchman0146]

Best piano channel. subscribed.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Thank you for this beautiful compliment!

[@yoga.ma.genova8591]

@@OzanFabienGuvener Totally deserved!

[@stephenarnold6359]

Fascinating to hear Schmitz. He was one of the first to use different fingerings for the Huit Doigts etude. He used the thumb on the white keys, passing fingers over for the black key notes, resulting in 4-1-3-2, or 2-1-3-4 or other weird combinations for a straight scale figure

[@pianopera]

Nice anthology! The correct spelling is Elie Robert Schmitz - he wrote a most interesting and important book about the piano works of Debussy.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Oops you are right, thank you! I'll edit the name and fix it. Yes, I have read that book of his, it is a really important book. And it's good you mentioned, I actually wrote that book in the information box in the video, but I had to remove it when it didn't fit :).

[@pianopera]

@@OzanFabienGuvener Thanks for all your recent videos, I enjoy them!

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

@@pianopera You're welcome! Thank you for your support, me too.

[@osmancanizin4423]

One of the most comprehensive videos on KZbin

[@keybawd4023]

Very impressed by E R Schmitz and G Copeland whose playing I did not know at all. Thank you for the introduction. Wonderful colour and use of the pedal from both. Harold Bauer, on the other hand, I found irritating with his rolling of any chord with more than four notes and not a lot to impress when he wasn't rolling chords. Plus, of course, all that left hand before right hand playing as by many of the period. I shall keep returning to this fascinating post and studying the playing of each performer.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

I am pleased to hear that! Because I wanted to introduce Schmitz and Copeland in this list especially, I even used their recordings in my previous Debussy video, I think they don't have the recognition they deserve. I also recommend Schimitz's entire prelude recording and Copeland's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune. I like Bauer's recording in terms of color, but yes, the points you mentioned bothered me as well, actually the pianists associated with Debussy also play Clair de Lune a bit like that. For this piece, I would prefer Gieseking or Moiseiwitsch. Thanks for your beautiful comment! I wish you pleasant listening.

[@keybawd4023]

@@OzanFabienGuvener I am very happy to see you mention Moiseiwitsch - one of my very favourite pianists. I will look out for the complete Schmitz preludes. By the way, when I listen to the recordings of Debussy playing Debussy, I am shocked by how he pulls the music around - but I suppose that's OK beecause he wrote it!!!! Your channel is great listening. The Friedman performance of Chopin op 55 /2 is just out of this world, and the Chopin tradition video is full of wonders. Thank you.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

​@@keybawd4023 Moiseiwitsch is great :) Debussy's recordings are not quite accurate as they are piano rolls, but the acoustic recording I shared, they are better. We can hear her playing the real piano in her recordings with Mary Garden. Thank you very much! I wish you pleasant listening :).

[@noshirm6285]

I will listen very carefully to these performances. 🤗

[@Chopin1995]

This is amazing! I live very close to Paderewski’s manor house in Poland, so he’s quite special and close to me and I’m going to write my master thesis on Paderewski. Debussy is my 2nd favourite composer (after Chopin) and I had no idea he went to see and hear Paderewski and that they spoke with each other!!! Incredible piece of information. Thank you very much.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

I was very surprised when I found out!

[@JanineLin]

Thank you so much for all your thorough research which helped me to connect the dots and understand Debussy’s music!!

[@ryouasch]

Wonderful recordings! Thank you!!

[@user-rs6uv6jh8q]

Wonderful!!! I hope there will be more videos like this!! Thank you👍👍

[@ericastier1646]

Debussy was so right to quote Chopin that recommended playing the piano without pedal while practicing which nobody does (but i do !) and in performance, not holding it except in VERY RARE instances. The pedal's role has been much exaggerated in good piano playing. Instead if it is used to cover up lack of legato technique. I can spend a whole evening practicing Chopin's etude and never using the pedal which is exactly what Chopin would have done.

[@erick-gd7wo]

The biggest surprise is to find out PADEREWSKI played Debussy..... wow..... this recording is so much more valuable

[@johnrock2173]

What an absolutely great collection with wonderful research. You made my night! Thankyou! I remember reading Debussy's writing and him talking about Liszt as a "fiery genius" and also saying wrongly that people think he took his orchestral cues from Wagner but he really took them from Liszt. Thanks again.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Certainly, Debussy was a composer trying to subvert the Wagner influence. I laugh when someone says Debussy was a Wagnerian, he hated Wagner except in his early days. For this, he was fed by Liszt, Russian composers (especially Mussorgsky), some French composers and most importantly his own creativity. But Liszt's symphonic poems and piano works were crucial clues to Debussy's direction.

[@johnrock2173]

@@OzanFabienGuvener Thankyou for the reply. I didn't know that about Mussorgsky but can definitely hear it now.

[@tannerhenley4067]

Love your videos!!

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Thank you! :)

[@Ziad3195]

I adore this video. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@MrAquilina420]

I especially enjoyed Poissons D’or. First time hearing that piece I think. It reminds me somewhat of Masashi Hamauzu’s style.

[@srothbardt]

Interesting

[@PIANOLOVERUS]

i listened to snippets of most of the above pianists and there was nothing strange or distorted about their playing by today's standards. But at least half of the recordings I've heard of Debussy playing his own music are so rhythmically distorted, at least by present day standards, that one might conclude he didn't know how to count. In fact, when I first heard some of these recordings a while ago I was so depressed that I vowed never to listen to Debussy playing Debussy again. Can anyone offer some insight to why some Debussy's recordings sound so rhythmically distorted(light years beyond what's considered rubato)? Could it be that the piano rolls distorted his playing?

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Piano rolls made before 1920 will not give accurate results. Check out Debussy's recordings with Mary Garden, although sound quality is poor, it is Debussy's real playing. Many of the piano rolls are garbage.

[@keybawd4023]

I have a problem with piano rolls, they always sound jerky to me. When I first heard Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev on piano rolls, I thought they must be terrible pianists!! So I don't listen anymore. I would rather hear an acoustic recording no matter how much surface noise. I have heard the recordings with Mary Garden, excellent performances. I shall keep exploring your posts. Thank you.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

I totally agree with you. Piano rolls really misrepresent the playing. Piano rolls can give some ideas, but it is definitely not right to take a criterion. Debussy's recordings with Mary Garden reflect Debussy's pianism much better, No matter how bad the recording quality is, I still listen to it... I am currently preparing a post like "Composers are playing their own work", I will definitely not include piano roll. Maybe I'll just put in Scriabin's piano roll, but I'm not sure about that either.

[@keybawd4023]

@@OzanFabienGuvener If there are composers playing the same piece on Piano roll and also on acoustic disc that would be an interesting comparison. Are there any such? I look forward to your 'composers playing their own work'. Best Wishes

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

@@keybawd4023 What a great idea you said. For some composers yes there is (Rachmaninoff and Grieg for example), but this can be done on the basis of pianists, not only composers, and the analogy can be extended. Many pianists such as Busoni, Cortot, Hofmann, Rosenthal, Horowitz, Friedman, Grünfeld have both acoustic and roll recordings for the same piece. With this comparison, it becomes clear why piano roll should not be preferred :) I will think about it and if I do, I will mention you, thank you for this brilliant idea!

[@keybawd4023]

@@OzanFabienGuvener Thank you for doing all the work on finding, collecting and presenting these vintage recordings.

[@keybawd4023]

@@OzanFabienGuvener Thinking of your projected paino roll vs 78. I have just heard Grainger's marvelous Ramble on Love Duet played by him on piano roll (ghastly) and on 78. Interesting comparison.