Daniel Barenboim: Crescendo

With Beethoven you often need to build up a crescendo over a long time and if you arrive at a forte or a fortissimo too soon, the rest of the crescendo is gone. With Debussy it is often exactly the oppisite: there are sudden flashes of crescendo or diminuendo that happen very quicly - sometimes on one note only - and if you miss them you achieve only a very thick sound that simply does not suit the music.