Ikuyo Nakamichi – Debussy: Preludes I; Images I & II; L’Isle Joyeuse (2021) DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Ikuyo Nakamichi – Debussy: Preludes I; Images I & II; L’Isle Joyeuse (2021)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time – 69:24 minutes | 2,73 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 69:24 minutes | 1,27 GB
Source: SACD-R, Sony Japan # SICC-19053 | Artwork: Front/Rear Covers

Pianist Ikuyo Nakamichi is known for her Beethoven performances, but she has also performed Chopin’s piano music with multimedia accompaniment and, occasionally, Debussy. This set of the Preludes and Images, with a vigorous concluding L’isle joyeuse, isn’t exactly the kind one would pick for a multimedia presentation, for Nakamichi doesn’t lean heavily on the atmospherics. When she deploys abundant pedaling, it’s in the service of images that are specifically supposed to be hazy in some way, as in La cathédrale engloutie or Cloches à travers les feuilles. Elsewhere, Nakamichi’s textures are clear and her articulation detailed. Her goldfish (Poissons d’or) are little flashes of light in the pond, not inhabitants of a deep watery realm, and many of the Preludes benefit from careful tracing of structural and motivic details. It would be too much to call this a Beethoven specialist’s Debussy, but it may reflect Nakamichi’s primarily German and Japanese training rather than French traditions. None of which is meant as criticism, just as a suggestion to sample to see what one is getting into; the performance is distinctive, and RCA’s sound, from a live performance in Tokyo at the Toyo Bunkakaikan Recital Hall in the fall of 2020, is impressively clear and immediate.

Tracklist:

01. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 I. Danseuses de Delphes
02. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 II. Voiles
03. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 III. Le vent dans la plaine
04. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 IV. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir
05. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 V. Les collines d’Anacapri
06. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 VI. Des pas sur la neige
07. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 VII. Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest
08. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 VIII. La fille aux cheveux de lin
09. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 IX. La serenade interrompue
10. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 X. La cathedrale engloutie
11. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 XI. La danse de Puck
12. Préludes Premier livre, L 125 XII. Minstrels
13. Images, Première et Deuxième séries, L 105 I. Reflets dans l’eau
14. Images, Première et Deuxième séries, L 105 II. Hommage a Rameau
15. Images, Première et Deuxième séries, L 105 III. Mouvement
16. Images Deuxième serie, L 120 I. Cloches a travers les feuilles
17. Images Deuxième serie, L 120 II. Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
18. Images Deuxième serie, L 120 III. Poissons d’or
19. L’Isle joyeuse, L 109a