Jean-Yves Thibaudet - Debussy: Complete Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 1 (1996)

Debussy's piano music is not easy to bring off. The technical demands it imposes are formidable, but it also requires a great deal of interpretive thought. Thibaudet's versions sweep the board. He is not seduced into offering hazy washes of sound that obscure the immensely detailed nature of this music. Instead, he offers pristine Debussy with an emphasis on clarity, and yet which never sacrifices atmosphere. The Preludes contain a wealth of great music making. Listen to his "Girl With The Flaxen Hair" - you can hear ever turn of phrase, perhaps slightly brisker than usual, yet how well Thibaudet conjours up a mood of romance. Or "Footseps in the Snow", one of the most chilling of the Preludes. Thibaudet evokes the melancholic nature of this piece perfectly. One commentator said that if you emerge from this piece thinking how lovely it is, then you've heard a poor version. The same could be said of "Dead Leaves" or "Fog" from the second book. Thibaudet understands the great beauty of Debussy's music, but he also knows its many moods and that the composer was making a strong emotional point in each of the Preludes, not simply offering a series of attractive piano exercises.
The rest of the set is maginifcently played, too. Thibaudet's "Pour Le Piano" is wonderfully colourful: he negotiates Debussy's harmonic language like a skilled jazz musician (indeed, his tributes to Bill Evans and Duke Ellington are proof of his great feeling for the jazz idiom); I also enjoyed his highly evocative "Reverie" and his "Arabesques" are played with a great deal more clarity and spontaneity than many pianists. And the "Estampes" are gorgeous renditions of gorgeous pieces - "Pagodes" trips along with the utmost delicacy.
I would advise any lover of Debussy's music to invest in this set (and its companion). Thibaudet's sense of atmosphere and attention to nuance make one listen afresh to this great music.