Considered opinion would have it that Walter Gieseking was the greatest of all Debussy interpreters — and, in this case, considered opinion is correct. While it could be argued that Michaelangeli brings out the luminosity of Debussy's layers of sound better than his German counterpart, there's not much to debate about Gieseking's qualities. The master pianist made the composer's dense chords transparent and his harmonies shimmering, while giving theme lines a substance and balance often neglected by other musicians, be they Italian, French or otherwise.