Walter Gieseking, though German, was born in the French city of Lyon and is admired above all as a brilliant and entrancingly perceptive interpreter of Debussy and Ravel. “He created a sound world in this repertoire that had no precedent, except perhaps in the composers’ imaginations,” wrote Gramophone, while the New York Times has said that: “His playing, though focused and rhythmically exact, proves that deep concentration does not have to be intense … There is never a sense of strain or tension; everything is natural and full of character.”
Ravel: Menuet antique
Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte
Ravel: Jeux d’eau
Ravel: Sonatine
I. Modéré
II. Mouvement de menuet
III. Animé
Ravel: Miroirs, 5 pieces for piano
I. Noctuelles
II. Oiseaux triste
III. Une barque sur l’océan
IV. Alborada del gracioso
V. La vallée des cloches
Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit
I. Ondine
II. Le Gibet
III. Scarbo
Ravel: Menuet sur le nom de Haydn
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
I. Modéré – Très franc
II. Assez lent (avec une expression intense)
III. Modéré
IV. Assez animé
V. Presque lent (dans un sentiment intime)
VI. Vif
VII. Moins vif
VIII. Epilogue (Lent)
Ravel: Prelude in A Minor, M. 65
Ravel: A la manière de Borodine
Ravel: A la manière de Chabrier
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
I. Prélude
II. Fugue
III. Forlane
IV. Rigaudon
V. Menuet
VI. Toccata