Debussy Orchestral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Claude Debussy
Label: DG
Magazine Review Date: 9/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 60
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 435 766-2GH
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Cleveland Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor |
| Images |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Cleveland Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor |
| Printemps |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Cleveland Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor |
Composer or Director: Claude Debussy
Label: DG
Magazine Review Date: 9/1992
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 435 766-4GH
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Cleveland Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor |
| Images |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Cleveland Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor |
| Printemps |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Cleveland Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor |
Author: John Steane
Debussy disliked the term 'impressionism' applied to his music, with justification. But I can't resist quoting from his description of the Prelude a l'apres midi d'un faune: ''more precisely it is a general impression of the poem''. And those who know Boulez's 1960s and 1970s Debussy recordings (recently available in a CBS mid-price two-CD box, 6/90—nla) will not need me to point out that texturally they were more precise than generally impressionist. Little has changed. Tempos are marginally faster and the sound is more consistently alluring. But those coming to Boulez's faun for the first time, after the dreamy distant heat-haze on offer from 1964 Karajan (DG mid-price) or Baudo (EMI Eminence) should be warned: Boulez's faun comes to you, for a fleeting 8'49'' (the average is over 10'00''), freshened up and more playful than usual. The tempo may be swift, but Boulez matches this 'free illustration' of the poem with wonderfully liquid pacing. The fact that literally nothing happens in the sixth bar's silence alerts you to the compact acoustics; indeed the piece is experienced almost as chamber music, with revelatory focus for the solo cello in its later stages.
How well, too, Cleveland's principal violist survives this scrutiny in Printemps; it was an embarrassing moment in Boulez's previous, less confident and sonically fudged CBS recording. That may account for his wish to re-record it, but in reality the work (Debussy's earliest known for orchestra; a Prix de Rome envoi) is less remarkable for its actual intimations of the maturer master, than significant for the Academie's reaction, that the composer should be on his guard against ''cette impressionnisme vague''. As ever Boulez is. The woolly fortissimo horn sound is the only blot.
Most of Boulez's previous Debussy recordings were made with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, but the Images benefited from Cleveland's extra polish and finesse, and yet suffered in the last section of ''Iberia'' from a blandness of expression; an unwillingness to pick out and characterize the incidents in this incident-packed music. Debussy himself professed to abhor music that was purely pictorial and whilst ''Iberia'' could never be a picture postcard from Spain, his remark about the gathering of holidaying crowds in this movement—''there is a watermelon vendor, and children whistling; I see them all clearly''—is surely a contradiction of that professed abhorrence, even if the incidents were imagined rather than real. So I am happy to report that Cleveland's children (woodwind) now whistle with more vim, their bands of guitars (strings) now strum with more vigour, and their trombones now whoop a raucous ''Bravo!'' (or should it be ''Ole!'') in the final bars. What Boulez is, as yet, still unwilling to try his hand at is the brief passage from 1''43' (track 5) where Debussy puts un peu mocquer over the tune, and rubato over the whole. You have to turn to Rattle on EMI for an imaginative response to that; Boulez pretends not to notice and diverts attention by upgrading the accompaniment. There is, perhaps, another contradiction to be resolved in the preceding movement, ''Les parfums de la nuit''—the overall indication lent et reveur, with the tempo indicated by the accompanying metronome mark (quaver=92). Boulez's perfumes may strike you as fanned by quite a strong breeze (lingering for 7'30'' to Rattle's 9'16''), with the habanera rhythm more prevalent than usual, but, to my surprise, even he is well below the metronome marking. The numerous string glissandos here, all but banished from his earlier version, now put in a discreet appearance.
The surrounding ''Gigues'' and ''Rondes de printemps'' remain broadly unchanged. In the latter, from fig. 11 (2'54'', track 6)—a single minute of the most miraculous web of delicately spun sensations—to hear the score reproduced with Cleveland finesse at its finest, and with Boulez's ear for balance at its most acute, is reward enough. Needless to say Boulez tracks down the piece's chameleon main theme on whichever group of instruments it happens to put in an appearance. But then so does Rattle, who is more down in the woods in a dream for that episode just described (without loss of detail), and more obviously, and joyfully out on the village green for the final knees-up. Overall impressions (it's that word again) are that Rattle may not always match Boulez for clarity of texture, but the characterization (with a greater variety of tempo and dynamics) is consistently sharper, and the more distant EMI recording, with its more effective though rarely confusing 'atmosphere', has fuller, richer sound.'
How well, too, Cleveland's principal violist survives this scrutiny in Printemps; it was an embarrassing moment in Boulez's previous, less confident and sonically fudged CBS recording. That may account for his wish to re-record it, but in reality the work (Debussy's earliest known for orchestra; a Prix de Rome envoi) is less remarkable for its actual intimations of the maturer master, than significant for the Academie's reaction, that the composer should be on his guard against ''cette impressionnisme vague''. As ever Boulez is. The woolly fortissimo horn sound is the only blot.
Most of Boulez's previous Debussy recordings were made with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, but the Images benefited from Cleveland's extra polish and finesse, and yet suffered in the last section of ''Iberia'' from a blandness of expression; an unwillingness to pick out and characterize the incidents in this incident-packed music. Debussy himself professed to abhor music that was purely pictorial and whilst ''Iberia'' could never be a picture postcard from Spain, his remark about the gathering of holidaying crowds in this movement—''there is a watermelon vendor, and children whistling; I see them all clearly''—is surely a contradiction of that professed abhorrence, even if the incidents were imagined rather than real. So I am happy to report that Cleveland's children (woodwind) now whistle with more vim, their bands of guitars (strings) now strum with more vigour, and their trombones now whoop a raucous ''Bravo!'' (or should it be ''Ole!'') in the final bars. What Boulez is, as yet, still unwilling to try his hand at is the brief passage from 1''43' (track 5) where Debussy puts un peu mocquer over the tune, and rubato over the whole. You have to turn to Rattle on EMI for an imaginative response to that; Boulez pretends not to notice and diverts attention by upgrading the accompaniment. There is, perhaps, another contradiction to be resolved in the preceding movement, ''Les parfums de la nuit''—the overall indication lent et reveur, with the tempo indicated by the accompanying metronome mark (quaver=92). Boulez's perfumes may strike you as fanned by quite a strong breeze (lingering for 7'30'' to Rattle's 9'16''), with the habanera rhythm more prevalent than usual, but, to my surprise, even he is well below the metronome marking. The numerous string glissandos here, all but banished from his earlier version, now put in a discreet appearance.
The surrounding ''Gigues'' and ''Rondes de printemps'' remain broadly unchanged. In the latter, from fig. 11 (2'54'', track 6)—a single minute of the most miraculous web of delicately spun sensations—to hear the score reproduced with Cleveland finesse at its finest, and with Boulez's ear for balance at its most acute, is reward enough. Needless to say Boulez tracks down the piece's chameleon main theme on whichever group of instruments it happens to put in an appearance. But then so does Rattle, who is more down in the woods in a dream for that episode just described (without loss of detail), and more obviously, and joyfully out on the village green for the final knees-up. Overall impressions (it's that word again) are that Rattle may not always match Boulez for clarity of texture, but the characterization (with a greater variety of tempo and dynamics) is consistently sharper, and the more distant EMI recording, with its more effective though rarely confusing 'atmosphere', has fuller, richer sound.'
Debussy Orchestral Works
Debussy Orchestral Works
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