Debussy : Preludes, Book I & II
Hiroko Sasaki – Pleyel 1873

Released by: Piano Classics

When pianist Hiroko Sasaki was looking for an instrument to record the Debussy Preludes on, she happened to spot a strange looking instrument, which turned out to be a Pleyel concert grand built in 1873, and she instantly fell in love with it. The piano, built in a beautifully ornamented harpsichord case, offers her the special sonorities, dynamics and colors that she thinks are essential in Debussy, who himself owned a Pleyel piano, his favorite instrument.

Excerpt from Book I

V. Les collines d'Anacapri (The hills of Anacapri - アナカプリの丘)

Excerpt from Book II

VII. La terrasse des clair de lune (Terrace for Moonlight audiences - 月の光が降り注ぐテラス)

(4 out of 5 stars) [A] beautiful sound Debussy would have recognized.
— The Guardian
exquisite proportion, rare poetic understatement, and a connoisseur’s in-depth grasp of many unusual textual options.
— Musical America