BIS
Debussy: La mer, Images & Prelude a l'apres midi d'un faune / Shui, Singapore Symphony
$21.99
Details
- Composer
- DEBUSSY, CLAUDE
- Artist
- Shui
- Format
- SACD
- Label
- BIS
- Released
- Nov 11, 2014
- Catalog #
- BIS-1837
- UPC
- 7318599918372
About
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
On this disc, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune – possibly Claude Debussy’s most popular work for orchestra – is framed by two of his greatest achievements in the medium, La Mer and Images pour orchestre. All three works are programmatic, but Debussy’s concern was to create an atmosphere rather than any naturalistic likeness. The Prélude is a case in point – while taking his inspiration from a pastoral poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, Debussy famously told a conductor who wanted a more detailed explanation: ‘It’s a shepherd playing the flute, sitting on his bum in the grass!’ In La Mer, Debussy abstains from the various clichés of so many other musical depictions of water, and instead creates an immediately recognizable seascape, largely through a pioneering use of various instrumental timbres, once described as ‘an impressionism of sounding dots’. Soon after La Mer, the composer started on Images, in which he went even further: although using a large orchestra, Debussy mainly avoids big sonorities, concentrating instead on unusual sound combinations and on transparency. His aim was compose a cycle focusing on the colours of three countries, while as far as possible avoiding the clichés associated with their music. Of its three panels, the expansive middle one, Ibéria, is often performed as an independent piece, but its Spanish colouring takes on new shades when framed by Scottish mists and the freshness of spring in France. The present disc combines new recordings by Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Lan Shui with the team’s acclaimed performance of La Mer, first released in 2007 on Seascapes, a programme of sea-related works. The reviewer in American Record Guide called it ‘the most astounding, effective, and beautiful recording of La Mer I have ever heard’ and in BBC Music Magazine it was described as ‘an unequivocally world-class performance’.
On this disc, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune – possibly Claude Debussy’s most popular work for orchestra – is framed by two of his greatest achievements in the medium, La Mer and Images pour orchestre. All three works are programmatic, but Debussy’s concern was to create an atmosphere rather than any naturalistic likeness. The Prélude is a case in point – while taking his inspiration from a pastoral poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, Debussy famously told a conductor who wanted a more detailed explanation: ‘It’s a shepherd playing the flute, sitting on his bum in the grass!’ In La Mer, Debussy abstains from the various clichés of so many other musical depictions of water, and instead creates an immediately recognizable seascape, largely through a pioneering use of various instrumental timbres, once described as ‘an impressionism of sounding dots’. Soon after La Mer, the composer started on Images, in which he went even further: although using a large orchestra, Debussy mainly avoids big sonorities, concentrating instead on unusual sound combinations and on transparency. His aim was compose a cycle focusing on the colours of three countries, while as far as possible avoiding the clichés associated with their music. Of its three panels, the expansive middle one, Ibéria, is often performed as an independent piece, but its Spanish colouring takes on new shades when framed by Scottish mists and the freshness of spring in France. The present disc combines new recordings by Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Lan Shui with the team’s acclaimed performance of La Mer, first released in 2007 on Seascapes, a programme of sea-related works. The reviewer in American Record Guide called it ‘the most astounding, effective, and beautiful recording of La Mer I have ever heard’ and in BBC Music Magazine it was described as ‘an unequivocally world-class performance’.
Tracklist 9 tracks
-
1 No. 1. Gigues 08:40
- Track
- 1
- Title
- No. 1. Gigues
- Duration
- 08:40
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
2 No. 2. Iberia: a. Par les rues et par les chemins - 07:10
- Track
- 2
- Title
- No. 2. Iberia: a. Par les rues et par les chemins -
- Duration
- 07:10
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
3 No. 2. Iberia: b. Les parfums de la nuit - 09:40
- Track
- 3
- Title
- No. 2. Iberia: b. Les parfums de la nuit -
- Duration
- 09:40
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
4 No. 2. Iberia: c. Le matin d'un jour de fete 04:38
- Track
- 4
- Title
- No. 2. Iberia: c. Le matin d'un jour de fete
- Duration
- 04:38
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
5 No. 3. Rondes de printemps 08:02
- Track
- 5
- Title
- No. 3. Rondes de printemps
- Duration
- 08:02
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
6 Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune 11:23
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
- Duration
- 11:23
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
7 I. De l'aube a midi sur la mer 09:23
- Track
- 7
- Title
- I. De l'aube a midi sur la mer
- Duration
- 09:23
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
8 II. Jeux de vagues 06:51
- Track
- 8
- Title
- II. Jeux de vagues
- Duration
- 06:51
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui
-
9 III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer 09:14
- Track
- 9
- Title
- III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer
- Duration
- 09:14
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Ensemble
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Lan Shui