I need to look into Hewitt’s Debussy. My “go tos” are usually Walter Gieseking and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Admittedly, I need to give her Mozart a listen as well. I just have too many recordings of these already including Uchida… who is also a marvelous performer of Debussy. Two other recordings by Hewitt I quite admire are the keyboard works by Scarlatti and Rameau:
To me, listening to music is like wearing shoes. Not all shoes suit my body; likewise, not all performers dovetail comfortably with my DNA. I have a benchmark that is a useful screening test. When I encounter a new pianist, I check whether they have recorded Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit. From that work, I listen to their interpretation of Scarbo, which reveals a great deal about their personalities and styles of playing. Here are some examples of pianists I revere, showing their individual styles in Scarbo.
Angela Hewitt
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. This is from Bavouzet's early 2000s recording. He re-recorded it in 2025, which is also breathtaking.
My last example Louis Lortie, who was unknown to me until recently. I like his interesting take on Scarbo, so I have acquired his complete Ravel piano works.
