Gieseking Ravel

Among the major accomplishments of Walter Gieseking’s career at the piano, the three cycles Mozart, Debussy, and Ravel have influenced generations of musicians and are part of the discographic legend.

Walter Gieseking is undoubtedly one of the most important interpreters of French piano music. Especially when it comes to Debussy and Ravel, few can compete with him.

In 1998 an article appeared in The Times claiming the non-existence of talent. Just as the eminent psychologist R.D. Laing explained that ‘schizophrenia’ was a fabricated term for an analysable condition, so the Times writer stressed that talent was a fancy description for hard work. For him the success of a musical star – he took the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as his example – had more to do with perspiration than inspiration.

In 1998 an article appeared in The Times claiming the non-existence of talent. Just as the eminent psychologist R.D. Laing explained that ‘schizophrenia’ was a fabricated term for an analysable condition, so the Times writer stressed that talent was a fancy description for hard work. For him the success of a musical star – he took the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as his example – had more to do with perspiration than inspiration.

It was with the repertoire of French masters that the German pianist Walter Gieseking became most famous. The impressionistic piano writing of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel required the most sensitive touch and attention to color and nuance, and Gieseking's finger acuity, imaginative pedaling, and above all, preternaturally alert ear made him an ideal interpreter of this music. Nevertheless, his own repertoire ranged widely across eras and national boundaries. Largely self-taught as a pianist, Gieseking was born in Lyon, France, on November 5, 1895; with his family (his father was a distinguished doctor and entomologist), he traveled in France and Italy until he enrolled at the Hannover Conservatory, where he came under the tutelage of Karl Leimer, making his debut in 1915. Gieseking was drafted into the German army a year after his first public performance but escaped combat by performing in his regimental band.

Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a German pianist and composer.

Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made integral recordings of all their published works which were extant during his life. He also recorded most of Mozart's solo piano works.

Walter Wilhelm Gieseking was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made integral recordings of all their published works which were extant during his life. He also recorded most of the solo piano works by Mozart.

Joseph Moog has established an enviable reputation as one of the most exciting virtuosos of our time with wide ranging repertoire that often takes him far off the beaten track. His ONYX recordings include concertos by Rubinstein, Moszkowski, piano sonatas by Tchaikovsky and Scharwenka, and arrangements of Scarlatti sonatas by, Friedman, Tausig, Gieseking and others. Recipient of Gramophone magazine’s ‘Young artist of the Year’ award in 2015 the magazine wrote of him ‘Clearly he is already among the most brilliant of pianists’ In 2012 he was awarded the ICMA Young Artist of the Year award, and in 2014 collected the ICMA best solo instrument award for his album ‘Scarlatti Illuminated’

The radio recordings between 1939 and 1945 with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Wilhelm Furtwangler are among classical music's most compelling sound documents. Created at the peak of the collaboration between orchestra and conductor, Furtwangler's artist personality is conveyed more vividly than anywhere else. What can be heard is music in which inspiration and the expressive will know no bounds and in which, not least, the existential experience of the Second World War reverberates. For the first time, the Berliner Philharmoniker are releasing a complete edition of these recordings.