Daniel Ericourt's complete Debussy piano works

[Larry Kart]

A Frenchman, born in 1903, who settled in the U.S. in 1926 and died in 1998, Ericourt was a fabled Debussy interpreter who recorded the complete piano works for the Kapp label in the 1960-62. I'd heard of these recordings but never heard them, then noticed that they were at Berkshire on Ivory Classics:

Debussy, The Complete Solo Piano Music. (Daniel Ericourt)

Add to cart | Price: $ 19.96 | 4 in set. | Country: AMERICA | D/A code: Analogue | Code: 73006 | BRO Code: 123558 | Label: IVORY CLASSICS

So far, they are a revelation. Ericourt tends to be on the dry and clear side, so be forwarned if you like your Debussy cloudy and dreamy, but having said that I'd claim that Ericourt's approach is not a matter of taste (as in, how do you like your Debussy?) but of insight. Seldom have I had the feeling to this degree (Jascha Horenstein would be another case) that music that I thought I knew well was being understood so truly at the level of compositional intent, after which it's more or less a matter of chops, and Ericourt has them. In one sense, this is particularly evident at the level of drama/storytelling, and Debussy has that level -- witness his request to Marguerite Long, when she was working on Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the rain) with the composer: "More sun please! It is about children dancing around in the Luxembourg Gardens. The rain stopped. Now there is beautiful sunshine." For example, in Ericourt's reading of Dansueses de Delphe (Dancers of Delphi), from Preludes Book I, the dancers are simply (in fact, not so simply, in terms of execution) right there -- the sense of limbs being extended, feet planted, turns executed, etc. is palpable -- while in Youri Egerov's lovely, hazy, then imperious reading, it's all about graded shadings and textures at the keyboard; the approach is painterly, little or no sense of dance. Similarly, in the first of the Etudes, Pour les 'cinq doights (d'Apres Monsiuer Czerny), a key question is what is the composer's attitude toward the Czerny exercises that are being sent up here. Yes, they're being "sent up," but what happens dramatically in the piece, what are the impulses and reactions and their effects? Not that one needs to be literal, but Ericourt's plot goes something like this -- one's mind and fingers are irritated by the familiar, drudging dogmatic exercises; this translates explosively into rebellious anger, which then energizes/hurls the mind and fingers into triumphant/delirous fantasy. Again, I apologize for the literalness of this; but in Ericourt's hands, the realization of this story in sound clearly IS the germ of the piece (or so I'm convinced), especially when one hears readings, no matter how digitally adept, in which the interpreter's (actually, of course, the composer's) attitude toward the Czerny material is left unformed dramatically or never even comes up.

The only drawback to this set is that it's dubbed from LPs -- the original tapes are not and probably never will be available -- but the bits of surface noise I hear are no problem for me.

BTW, speaking of Horenstein, Berkshire now has this:

Ravel, Piano Concerto {w.Monique Haas}; Bolero. Mahler, Kindertotenlieder {w.Marian Anderson}. Barber, Violin Concerto {w.Lola Bobesco}. Beethoven, Egmont Overture; Symphonies 1, 7, 8, 9 {w.Lorengar, Hoeffgen, Traxel & Wiener}. Roussel, The Spider's Feast. Bartok, Concerto for Orchestra. Sibelius, Symphony #2. Stravinsky, Firebird Suite; Symphony in 3 Movements. Debussy, La Mer. Strauss, Death and Transfiguration; Metamorphosen. Mozart, Don Giovanni Overture. Mendelssohn, Symphony #4. Brahms, Tragic Overture; Symphony #1. Janacek, Sinfonietta. Haydn, Symphony #100. Prokofiev, Symphony #5. (French National Radio Orchestra/ Horenstein. Broadcast performances, 1952-66)

Add to cart | Price: $ 26.91 | 9 in set. | Country: AMERICA | D/A code: Mono | Code: CD 1146 | BRO Code: 131978 | Label: MUSIC AND ARTS

I've just begun to listen, but what I've heard so far -- The Spider's Feast -- was remarkable.

[BruceH]

Thanks for the recommendation Larry.

[Joe G]

I'm interested - definitely.

[B. Goren.]

Thanks Larry. This 4 CDs set is outstanding.

[Larry Kart]

You're welcome. Saw that you were listening to it.