This is remarkable pianism. However, Aimard appears to be treating the Preludes as absolute music, with only intermittent sense of the visual. That works fine in some of the pieces but this sober reading conveys too little of Debussy's humour and passion...If this all seems rather negative, then make no mistake, this is still a strong set of the Preludes.

Aimard stresses clarity of thought and timbre, as well as seriousness and fidelity, in all he does. You might think such qualities...were less important in Debussy’s Préludes, which put a premium on sensitivity, imagination and range of colour...But Aimard is no slouch in those departments either...Aimard challenges us to listen rather than dream.

For [Aimard], Debussy must always be allowed his own voice and few performances on record have proceeded with so little impediment or with greater transparency and lucidity. Yet time and again I found myself longing for Aimard to step out into the light instead of confining himself so exclusively to shadows and half-lights.

As you'd expect, Aimard's accounts of the 24 pieces are technically impeccable, whether articulating every rhythmic detail in La Danse de Puck, or perfectly layering the chordal accumulations of La Cathédrale Engloutie, but there is something matter of fact about it all

a clean if rather dispassionate account of Debussy’s complete piano Preludes. Aimard was recorded playing his own Steinway: a cosy arrangement that may explain his devotion to the instrument’s reverberations. The resonances lend a special aura to Debussy’s more processional pieces.