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Hi Tony007, this is one of my favourite Debussy works, as you play it very well done and musically expressive. A lot of pianists incline toward a more languorous tempo (myself included) but it is nice to here it here as more of a tempo di valse - some of it makes more sense at the faster tempo, I might need to revise some of my ideas on how to interpret the piece. Thanks for sharing it here.

Hi, Tony! As usual, a solid presentation -- I did some sense of "fresh paint"; i.e, I got the impression that you were navigating your way from progression to progression -- but the navigation was expertly handled. I believe there is more of a ballet element to this Valse than what you projected, but, like you, I lean in on the dance quality rather than the romantic quality. It reminds me, in fact, of Debussy's "Danse", written in roughly the same time period.

Debussy's development as a composer has always especially fascinated me. All the way up to his mid to late 30's, his piano music could legitimately be characterized as late 19th century salon music, grouped with Massenet, Godard, Delibes, and Chaminade, et al -- music that now feels dated, and isn't much played. It wasn't until he was around 40 or so that he "suddenly" began composing truly revolutionary works on many levels, and for which he is justly remembered today. Offhand, I would say that opera "Pelleas and Melisande" is the bridge (perhaps "Afternoon of a Faun"), but the musical language, gesturing, risk-taking is SO much more pronounced than in these early works.