Debussy’s Preludes are divided into two parts. Book I was composed in a short time between December 1909 and February 1910. Each Prelude has a title. Debussy took great care in assigning these titles, and several contain quotations from various poems. The titles are placed at the end of each prelude, a deliberate decision by Debussy that was meant to suggest the mood of each piece.
The process of recording has an almost grueling intensity which adds another dimension to a performer’s search for the music’s essence. The notion of music being “frozen architecture” becomes even more meaningful when we deal with recorded music. We try, perhaps in vain, to capture the ineffable. Isn’t that what great music does? Debussy takes an ordinary moment, a “cell” of life, as in a hint at the Marseillaise in the final Prelude, and imbues it with a sense of eternity and otherworldly significance. Debussy himself is “recording” human experience, revealing veiled messages ranging from bemused comedy to the shards of a shattered universe. Ever fascinating and often terrifying…
Additional information
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| Release Date | October 13, 2020 |
Debussy - Preludes Book 1
| Label | |
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| SKU | WVK001 |
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| Digital Converters | Horus |
| Mastering Engineer | Robert Friedrich—Five/Four Productions |
| Microphones | Sanken CO100 |
| Mixing Board | Millenia Mix Suite |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Producer | Thomas C. Moore – Five/Four Productions |
| Recording Engineer | Robert Friedrich—Five/Four Productions |
| Recording location | The New York Academy of Arts and Letters |
| Recording Software | Merging (Pyramix 11.2 DSD Recorder) |
| Recording Type & Bit Rate | DSD256 |
| Release Date | August 26, 2016 |
Debussy - Preludes Book 2
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | WVK002 |
| Qualities | |
| Channels | |
| Artists | |
| Composers | |
| Genres | |
| Digital Converters | Horus |
| Mastering Engineer | Robert Friedrich—Five/Four Productions |
| Microphones | Sanken CO100 |
| Mixing Board | Millenia Mix Suite |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Producer | Thomas C. Moore – Five/Four Productions |
| Recording Engineer | Robert Friedrich—Five/Four Productions |
| Recording location | The New York Academy of Arts and Letters |
| Recording Software | Merging |
| Recording Type & Bit Rate | DSD256 |
| Release Date | August 26, 2016 |
Press reviews
Positive Feedback
My conclusion? Simple, really: The Wave Kinetics Records two-album set is truly the finest, the most right-on performance of Debussy’s Preludes I have ever heard, with the most outstanding production and audio engineering of a solo piano that I’ve ever experienced. Frankly, I consider it to be worthy of The Grammy Award, for both its performance and its production values. I hope that Wave Kinetics Records pursues this recognition for its sterling work here.
Regardless of whether you’re listing to Ilya Itin’s Debussy Preludes on a major full-range system, or via headphones, or anything in between, you’ll hear what I mean. This is a true world-class reference album, a modern classic in our own time.
Those of you who have DSD 256 (Quad DSD) playback will definitely want to add this to your collection; you’ll listen to it again and again. Debussy lovers, attention: Ilya Itin is a brilliant artist!
And if you don’t have Quad DSD playback capabilities yet, what the hell are you waiting for?! Given the proliferation of Quad DSD playback over the past several years, there is no excuse for you live without this supreme audiophile reference format. These two album downloads all by themselves justify making an upgrade…but there are many more Quad DSD recordings available now, as well.
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