This is an admirable release, and it would have been even better had the sound quality been a little more sophisticated. The performances date from 1972-3 and the piano tone has slightly fuzzy edges to it; also the lower and middle registers of the instrument tend towards tubbiness.
Helffer and Austbo present a complete survey of Debussy's published works in this medium and they tackle the music very much from a latter twentieth-century angle—many of the daring ideas in the Epigraphes antiques have an affinity with Stravinsky. This work was written as a musical complement to some of Pierre Louy's poems and the composer's fascination for the timeless monuments of Egypt is placed alongside another movement reminiscent of the ''Little Shepherd'' from Children's Corner. This is perhaps as close as we can get to Debussy's style as an improviser.
Aside from the pleasantly written and light Marche ecossaise, it is the Petite suite dating from 1886-9 (the earliest music on the disc) that is Debussy's only other work for duet. The pianists find a touching innocence in the charming ''Menuet'', and the gently rocking motion of ''En bateau'' is both picturesquely done and with considerable affection.
Turning to the two-piano repertoire, whereas the Lindaraja is somewhat inconsequential, En blanc et noir is certainly a masterpiece. This is not a 'pretty' Debussy but a vigorous and modern composer. In it he makes various allusions to the First World War that was raging at the time: a peculiar mixture of the sacred and the profane can be heard in the second piece. The third one of the set is dedicated to Stravinsky. Playing throughout is enormously stylish, whether it is in terms of the passion and panache of the first, or the searching poise of the second. Apart from a disgraceful tone on one or two forte notes in En blanc et noir, the imperfect sound quality on this disc did not really deflect me from enjoying the superb music-making.'