| | Debussy: Suite Bergamasque, Etc / Walter Gieseking CD Debussy / Gieseking, Walter CDS
 (1 Customer Review)
Live Recording Debussy: Suite Bergamasque, Etc / Walter Gieseking Music Debussy: Suite Bergamasque, Etc / Walter Gieseking Classical Review Average Rating: (3 out of 5 stars)  A botched rerelease
Walter Gieseking was my favorite pianist. I heard him twice in concert in the last year of his life. I have most, if not all, of his LPs. And I know his characteristic and much praised tone very well indeed. It's not to be found on this abysmal disc. Considering the handicap his playing labors under here, it is amazing that a good deal of pleasure actually comes through. However, so much does not get through, and that is the part with the real magic. I have two CD sets of Gieseking's complete postwar Debussy recordings, one from EMI West Germany, the other from EMI Japan. The former is long gone, the latter reappears from time to time, I believe. Both are fine. The complete Debussy from EMI UK was not fine, though a good deal better than what we have here. What then is wrong at EMI UK? Would they be outsourcing these remastering tasks, perhaps to Afghanistan? Or do the knob-twiddlers take a set it and forget it approach and listen to rock on their headphones as unattended reels turn? Or is there a disgruntled saboteur? If I wax cynical, don't blame me. The rereleases in EMI's Great Recordings of the Century series are a large part of our musical legacy and EMI has more of this sort of thing than anyone else. As the late Harold Schonberg wrote, Gieseking never played a harsh or metallic sound. Yet here his sound is traduced into something hard, even glassy, detached and impersonal, songless and soulless, where all should be poetic imagination. This won't do!
-Frank W Barham
Submitted by margbarham (Seattle, WA, USA) 
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Purchase Debussy: Suite Bergamasque, Etc / Walter Gieseking To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration CD (1992)
Debussy: Suite Bergamasque, Etc / Walter Gieseking
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Live Recording
Engineers include: Tony Sheppard, Erik Zobler, Barry Rudolph.
Personnel: Jamecia Bennett (vocals, soprano); Core Cotton, Carrie Harrington (vocals, alto); Terrence Frierson, Patricia Lacy, Kimberly Brown (vocals, tenor, tenor saxophone); James F. Wright (vocals, baritone); David B. Young, Michael L. Bowens (vocals, bass voice); Mervyn Warren (vocals, piano, keyboards, drums, programming, drum programming, background vocals); Richard Smallwood (vocals, keyboards, programming); Donna McElroy, Howard Hewett, Angela Wright, Patti Austin, Take 6, Vicki Hampton, Chris Willis, Kim Fleming, Bob Bailey (vocals, background vocals); Commissioned, Daryl Coley, Jackie Ruffin, Dianne Reeves, Janice Chandler, Melvin Warren, Dennis Sawyers, Caroline Evans, Carolene Evans, David Young, Pat Lacu, Michael Weeks, David Young, Darlene Simmons, Al Jarreau, Michelle Weeks, The Richard Smallwood Singers, Stevie Wonder, Tevin Campbell, The Boys Choir of Harlem, The Clark Sisters , Tramaine Hawkins (vocals); Mike-E (rap vocals, guitar); Leaders of the New School (rap vocals); Jayne Bell, Jayn Bell Porter, Angela Henderson, Cherly Reeves, Sandra Harris, Dorothy Brown, Manecia Bennett, Renee McCall, Elizabeth J. Turner, Wanda Lewis, Ann Nesby (soprano); Jennifer Whitlock (alto, brass); Dorothy J. Townes, Shirley Marie Graham, Beverly Mahto, Alecia Russell, Dorothy Shelby, Valerie Johnson (alto); Robert Edwards, Russell Knighton (tenor, tenor saxophone); Bill Airey Smith, Dr. Robert Jones, Bill Smith , Craig Taylor, Craig "Niteman" Taylor (tenor); Trenon Graham, Billy Steele (baritone); Freddie Winston, Rev. Joseph Young, Jr. (bass voice); Paul Jackson, Jr. , Tom Hemby (guitar); Daniel Kobialka (violin); Kirk Whalum, Mark Douthit (saxophone, brass); Bob Mintzer (saxophone); Eberhard Ramm, Leslie Norton (French horn); Dennis Good, Chuck Findley, George Bohannon, Dan Higgins, Gary Grant, George Bohanon, Gerald Albright, Jerry Hey, Kim Hutchcroft, Larry Hall , Larry Williams , Rob
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