Walter Gieseking Performs Debussy CD

 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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