Get busy with these Debussys

Complete Debussy sets are like buses – for ages none comes along, then two arrive in quick succession.

Last month’s Warner box of 33 CDs covers more ground but a new Deutsche Grammophon one

HHHHH, of 22 CDs plus two DVDs, restricts itself, in the main, to music published in Debussy’s lifetime. At about €56 it’s a snip and, on balance the one to have, with Debussy’s operatic masterpiece Pelléas

Et Mélisande from Claudio Abbado on CD and Pierre Boulez on DVD. No contest. Also, DG’s pianists (Pollini, Michelangeli and Aimard) are superior, while the honours are about even in the orchestral category.

Turning to three new Debussy piano albums, Seong-Jin Cho’s generous recital (73 minutes) on DG HHHH includes all the popular favourites, such as

Children’s Corner and the Suite Bergamasque.

Sadly, the Daniel Barenboim album HH is a non-starter. DG claims it’s his first Debussy solo piano album but includes a 20year-old, Spanish-sourced recording of the Preludes Book 1. Why?

Pick of the crop for me is Stephen Hough’s 70-minute recital on Hyperion HHHHH, with the Suite Bergamasque sacrificed to include Estampes, a much more severe test of a pianist, and a delicious bonbon, the waltz La Plus

Que Lente. Hough’s phrasing throughout is magical.