Debussy in recital

[BuyBuy]

How effective do you think Debussy is in recital ? His pieces are not for showoff (although they can be extremely difficult), which is sadly what many people expect from pianists nowadays...

Anyways, I plan a 15 minutes Debussy part on a recital that I am to give. It's made of 6 preludes from Book I :

Voiles (mysterious and floating, moderately difficult)
Les sons et les parfumes tournent dans l'air du soir (poetic, nocturnal, rather easy)
Les collines d'Anacapri (very joyful and lively, rather difficult)
Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest (violent and furious, extremely difficult)
La fille aux cheveux de lin (lyrical and sweet, very easy)
La danse de Puck (light and playful, moderately difficult)

Do you think that the combination is appropriate and balanced ? I was hesitating between this and the 3 estampes or the 3 first images. What do you think is more interesting for a recital given for mostly non musicians ?

By the way, I'm kind of worried about Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest, because I haven't started learning it. How hard is it really ? What other pieces from other composers does it compare to ? Thanks.

[larse]

I think that the general public will find the debussy preludes too experimental. They often just combine Debussy with Clair de Lune and Arabesque No 2...So if you're looking to impress an audience I would go for the Images. Though, I would love to hear both preludes and estampes...

[Awakening]

I'd end with What the West Wind has Seen.  I agree with the previous poster who said that Debussy preludes are too experimental for the casual audience/listener.  Having an all Debussy program could be tiresome and somewhat boring for your audience.  Even personally, my mind tends to wander during longer impressionist pieces, and sometimes I wish that they'd just end already.  A few of those pieces are very nice, though.  You might want to include Clair De Lune or Arabesque as last person said, because they are more mainstream and people will recognize and relate to them more.  Dr. Gradus and Parnassum might work nicely as well.

[sharon_f]

Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest is the most difficult prelude in Book I and is quite tricky. If you are not attached to just playing preludes, you might want to look at Debussy's Danse. Very upbeat, quite showy, not overly difficult, a real crowd-pleaser.

[Nordlys]

I think Debussy is very effective in recital, especially the preludes. They are varied in character, and it is easy for the public to listen to as they are short and are explained by titles.  In my experience this is not difficult music to listen to.

Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest is, like you say, violent and furious. It sounds very impressive, it has a lot of tricks and effects, but it is actually not the most difficult prelude. I found Les collines d'Anacapri harder, because it is more delicate. Voiles is also not easy to play well, with all the pianissimo.

[Floristan]

I think the 3 estampes are more accessible to an audience that isn't terribly sophisticated -- a little travelogue in music.  Unsophisticated audiences like to be able to put pictures to pieces, and Estampes makes that easy -- La soiree dans Grenade and Pagodes, especially.  Jardins sous la pluie sounds just like it's descriptive title.

The preludes and images are more abstract, IMO.

[IanT]

I think the preludes are quite evocative and fairly short.   I would go ahead and play them, I would keep it to about 4 rather than 6 though.

If you're worried about audience perception then maybe you should write some program notes to help the audience visualize what you see/think when you play the pieces.  Obviously this is especially important if few of your audience understand French.

Ian

[anda]

everybody loves debussy - no matter how unsophisticated the public or how complex the work, debussy is so descriptive, no one gets bored. some years ago, i played the entire 2nd half of a recital only debussy. and they loved it.

[Troldhaugen]

I think most of Debussy's works are readily appreciated by the general public. Since there are so many to choose from, you'll just have to pick some of them. I would play his Images, especially the first set, if I were you. Reflets dans l'eau and Mouvement are my all-time favourites. They are both representative impressionistic pieces by Debussy, yet not too abstract.       

[pianowelsh]

Im not sure about Debussy not being virtuoso rep (or show off) - the wind preludes are glittery as is feux d artifice and Lisle joyeuse - although it is true that they create their tension and resolve it in a different way from a Liszt rhapsody or Chopin Ballade etc. Agreed re Estampes I had to present them to a childrens audience prior to my exam rec and they got it. Not easy music though and on one level extremely sophisticated.