Rhythm and flow
Marguerite Long on Debussy playing Danseuses de Delphes:
When Debussy himself gave the first performance of this prélude, he played it slowly, with almost metronomic precision. [Long p. 63]
Emile Vuillermoz:
I shall never forget the cunning balance he was able to give to the beautiful, rich chords in the 'Sarabande' from Pour le piano, with its unexpected sonorities and progressions, and at the same time the way he maintained the framework of a courtly dance. He played it with the 'grave, slow elegance' which he asks for at the head of the score, without forcing nuances or accents, but with the easy simplicity of a good dancer from the sixteenth century. [Nichols p. 156]
Jacques Durand:
... an imperceptible rubato always framed within the beat... [Eigeldinger p. 128]