Debussy / Gulda: 24 Preludes (Vinyl LP)

The 24 Preludes represent what must be the best known cycle of pieces by the Impressionist composer Claude Debussy. The compositions are alive with magic, poetry and depiction in sound. No pianist can approach the demands of their composer more closely than Friedrich Gulda; Debussy's instruction to breathe with the pedal is something that Gulda, alone among pianists, has mastered to perfection. The pianist's instinctive sense of touch draws from the works of Debussy just what the composer wished: loud sections are thundered forth, while pianissimo passages sound so intimate and close at hand that one's own heartbeat sounds like the summons of an imperious drum. To do justice to this perfection, the recording is also released in full-spectrum sound quality. Gulda, rebel among pianists, was a great admirer of Debussy's music. As early as the 1940s, he proved with his recordings of L'isle joyeuse and Reflets dans l'eau his infallible sense of the composer's music. The pianist immersed him