Album

In BIS' Debussy: Piano Music, Vol. 3, Japanese pianist Noriko Ogawa takes us through Claude Debussy's La Boîte a JouJoux, the second book of his Preludes, and three shorter pieces. Debussy's piano music, even "complete" sets of it, is recorded with such frequency that one may wonder what Ogawa might be able to add to the discussion that has not been said before. But when the disc goes in, Ogawa's will be the only voice you hear—she has an amazing control of her touch and a complete understanding of the variety of sounds that it can produce, resulting in an approach to Debussy that is natural, bewitching, transparent, and even spectral. In softly focused pieces, such as in Brouillards, one cannot even hear or sense Ogawa's touch; the music radiates forward from the piano as though spontaneously generated and floats in the air. By comparison, the touch rings out La Puerta del Vino with assertiveness—this appears to be the only recording of this piece among many heard where the Habanera rhythm does not break down under the stress of executing the spray-like flourishes in the piece.

Ogawa's Ondine is a perfect example of what makes Debussy: Piano Music, Vol. 3, so superlative—it is flexible and expressive, but dynamically all the various little components and figures within the piece are spelled out precisely. Feux d'artifice comes roaring out from the distance practically into one's lap, but by the time the second section of the piece the piano sound seems to be melting like soft candle wax, an illusion that one hears in concert but is seldom picked up on recordings. BIS' sound recording is extremely generous, picking up on every nuance and detail emanating from Ogawa's piano, even when her footfalls are so distant that they seem ghostly, yet it is never overpowering or noisy in loud passages.

Debussy: Piano Music, Vol. 3, represents state-of-the-art Debussy. There are always critics who say that no one will ever surpass departed giants such as Walter Gieseking or Samson François in this literature. As fine as these historical artists were, it is hard to imagine that even they wouldn't sit up and take notice of this special and amazing recording if they could: its warmth, Ogawa's command of the music, and her sensitivity to its requirements. Noriko Ogawa's Debussy: Piano Music, Vol. 3, should prove completely satisfying to everyone who loves Debussy's music, and if the number of recordings of it out there is any indication, this seems to encompass most people who still bother to listen to classical music.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , All Music Guide

CD 1
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Préludes, Book 2, L.123 Work Recorded 2005 36:51 Noriko Ogawa Piano
1	1.Brouillards	3:04			$0.99
2	2.Feuilles mortes	2:48			$0.99
3	3.La puerta del vino	3:06			$0.99
4	4.Les fées sont d'exquises danseuses	3:08			$0.99
5	5.Bruyères	2:42			$0.99
6	6.General Lavine	2:28			$0.99
7	7.La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune	4:00			$0.99
8	8.Ondine	3:10			$0.99
9	9.Hommage à S. Pickwick	2:18			$0.99
10	10.Canope	2:34			$0.99
11	11.Les tierces alternées	2:36			$0.99
12	12.Feux d'artifice	4:57			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Berceuse héroïque, L.132 Work Recorded 2005 Noriko Ogawa Piano
13	Berceuse héroïque, L.132	3:58			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Page d'album (Pièce pour l'oeuvre du 'Vêtement du blessé'), L.133 Work Recorded 2005 Noriko Ogawa Piano
14	Page d'album (Pièce pour l'oeuvre du 'Vêtement du blessé'), L.133	1:11			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Elégie, L.138 Work Recorded 2005 Noriko Ogawa Piano
15	Elégie, L.138	1:54			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer La boîte à joujoux, L.128 (ballet)...La boîte à joujoux, L.128 (ballet; arr. piano) Work Recorded 2004 32:50 Noriko Ogawa Piano
16	2.Le Magasin de jouets	14:23			$2.49
17	3.Le Champ de bataille	9:28			$1.49
18	4.La Bergerie à vendre	5:55			$0.99
19	5.Après fortune faite	3:04			$0.99