Faultless in matters of taste and style, Gordon Fergus-Thompson's Debussy really suffers very little from comparison with that of the pianists listed above. He is a very pensive interpreter, not content to make his mark just by applying a colouristic tonal palette. The spiritual dimension is equally important to him.
In the two books of Images he is, of course, up against stiff competition from Michelangeli, Jones and Kocsis. Although the Italian maestro's DG version dates from about 20 years ago, it still sounds pretty superb. He uses more in the way of rubatos and idiosyncratic pianistic devices than Fergus-Thompson—the musical lines are drawn rather deliberately, as well. Jones on Nimbus is always cultured and his is the most approachably human version, but here the piano sound is quite different from the others, with the instrument being placed rather far back in the acoustic. Kocsis's tone on Philips is fractionally more brilliant in timbre than that of Fergus-Thompson and generally his playing has greater force of personality.
Nevertheless, the British pianist is exceptionally impressive in this new version. ''Reflets dans l'eau'' may start the set in a less virtuosic style than Kocsis's, but the amazing clarity of the translucent colours lends for a wonderfully spacious effect. He really listens to himself whilst playing. If ''Homage a Rameau'' may be a trifle static for some tastes, then I can say that I greatly welcomed the relaxed rhythms of ''Mouvement'', just because Fergus-Thompson takes time to bring out all the motifs. The subdued, murmuring accompanying figures in ''Cloches a travers les feuilles'' are also highly effective. His control over the quiet sonorities in the next Image, ''Et la lune descend...'', is quite miraculous and this creates a rapt atmosphere. ''Poissons d'or'', with its fleeting dashes of colour and movement, has very smooth and affectionate phrasing and each different part is given its own sonority, thus delineating and defining the various ideas for the listener.
I was a little less happy with Children's Corner. The first piece, ''Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum'' bears the marking Moderement anime, but Fergus-Thompson's tempo sounds too fast for this. In ''Serenade of the Doll'' his attention to detail is so exemplary that the music emerges as over-artful. But then one has to admit that the pianism has a rare refinement. The French pianist Marguerite Long related Debussy as saying that the piano should have a hammerless timbre in his works; this effect is achieved in ''The Snow is Dancing''.
Estampes could have been pictorially more vivid, but the sheer beauty of sound is such that the music makes its mark. The Spanish rhythms in ''La soiree dans Grenade'' are discreetly done and here it is the mysterious mood of the opening that is most memorable. ''Jardins sous la pluie'' has such bubbly textures that it is almost transformed into a toccata.
My reservations about the over-sophisticated treatment of Children's Corner are not very serious. This is a quite superbly recorded CD with highly distinguished playing. Seldom has Debussy's music been interpreted with such philosophic import.'