“The whole conception of performance in these days is too heavy, loud and blatant,” said Walter Gieseking in 1926, expressing his preference for “more delicacy and ethereal refinement of tone”. That same year the New York Times praised the German pianist for “achieving unusual richness and fineness of effect within a relatively small dynamic scale,” noting “his poetic sentiment and imagination, the intimacy of his musical expression and his exquisite adjustment of tone values.”

Gieseking’s finesse, imagination and sureness of touch brought him special and lasting distinction in the solo piano works of Debussy et Ravel, which he recorded in their entirety. The complete solo piano works of Mozart are another pillar of this 48CD collection. Demonstrating the breadth of Gieseking’s musical interests, it ranges from Bach to composers of the generation that followed Ravel.

Fascinated by the processes of sound reproduction, Gieseking was exceptionally productive in the studio, and this set includes nine world premiere releases and a substantial number of CD premieres and rarities. The entire collection has been newly remastered – using the best available sources for the 78-era recordings and the original tapes for those from the age of the LP.

This 48 CD set unites all the recordings that the pianist Walter Gieseking (1895-1956) recorded between 1923 and 1956 for the following labels: Columbia Graphophone (78s and LP) and Homocord (78s). The collection includes nine world premiere releases and a substantial number of CD premieres and rarities.

Walter Gieseking (1895-1956) is most closely identified with the piano music of Debussy and Ravel, but, as this 48CD set demonstrates, this phenomenally gifted musician commanded a repertoire that ranged from Bach to composers of the generation that followed Ravel – Gieseking himself among them.