At long last we have the best known of Walter Gieseking’s pre-war 78s in excellent remasterings, far surpassing previous reissues from VAI and Pearl. In order to minimize the pianist’s snorting and heavy breathing, distant miking often was employed. This imparts an appropriate haze upon the Debussy selections, which are more nuanced and involved than Gieseking’s sonically superior early 1950s EMI versions. I’m not sure, though, that I prefer this cooly dispatched Mozart C Minor Sonata to the controlled drama of Gieseking’s EMI remake. Not even his unflappable technique completely stands up to the breakneck tempos he chooses for the Beethoven sonata’s outer movements, and the “Waldstein” lacks the important first movement repeat. What you ultimately want this collection for, though, is the pianist’s staggering Gaspard de la nuit. Gieseking easily surmounts Ravel’s cruel digital demands, and paints each of the three movements with rainbows of color and ravishing pedal effects that shimmer through the old shellac. Had Gieseking recorded nothing else, this Gaspard would have secured him his deserved position among the 20th century’s keyboard giants.
