Search - Debussy, Van Beinum, Royal Concertgebouw Orch :: Debussy: Trois Nocturnes; La mer; Images pour orchestre [Australia]

Almost at a loss for words

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 06/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd heard a rumor years ago that Van Beinum's Debussy was without equal. I was pretty glad to come across the reissue so that I could find out what the story was.



My God!



For one, the sound on these old recordings is stunning--even the mono Images. I dragged an audiophile friend over to listen to the Nocturnes and his jaw was on the floor. He rechecked the recording dates several times and still didn't believe it was possible. This guy collects old Mercury LPs and that sort of stuff.



For two, this is the most perfectly conducted and performed orchestral Debussy I've encountered in nearly thirty-five years of listening. At moments where Van Beinum does not reach for the drama where others do, it's to make the impact more profound a bit later on. These choices balance the pieces better than anyone's; he seems to understand the structures perfectly. He also makes one painfully aware that there's a

cheap and thoughtless way to do this music that probably sounds dandy to most people but really isn't right. This applies especially to a warhorse like La Mer.



The playing of the Concertgebouw is almost frightening--it's the maximum of perfection blended with the maximum of expressiveness. Phrasing and articulation are beyond belief. At times the orchestra manages a luminous quality unlike anything I've ever heard before from a symphony orchestra--which is beyond right for Debussy.



Honestly, this recording should be on the permanent all-time-greats list. I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to anyone else's La Mer again and ditto with the other pieces.



As an aside, it's a bit too bad that we tend to gravitate toward orchestras like the Berlin too darn much. The Concertgebouw has an extraordinary history of great conductors and it was clearly for many years of of the best in the world--judging from this recording maybe the best for a while. Both Van Beinum and the later Haitink are absurdly underrated. Haitink's recordings for Philips are desperately in need of reappraisal.



As a second aside I've been learning that a lot of great recordings are being missed by people because they don't seem to fit their preconceptions. After decades of looking, for example, I finally found the perfect Beethoven Fifth--Eugene Ormandy's on Columbia/Sony! 100% drama and excitement; 0% bombast and the orchestra doesn't sound at all like it's being beaten up (I'm thinking of various Kleibers here). Who'd a thunk it! Ormandy got top honors again with his Shostakovich Fifth and for me that was even more of a surprise than the Beethoven. The Philadelphia at times comes across like a self-confident and effortless athlete. And hands down, the greatest Mahler Sixth I've ever encountered is Farberman's on Vox. Want a stunning flawlessly idiomatic Dvorak Ninth? Try Leinsdorf's with the LA Philharmonic from 1958. No kidding! A lot of perceptive musician friends tell me the best recordings of the late Beethoven Quartets ever are the Hollywood Quartet's from ages ago. You want consistent greatness? Try anything conducted by Ferenc Fricsay--especially his Bartok and Beethoven Ninth. I'd always loved Reiner's Concerto for Orchestra until I heard Fricsay's. Now the Reiner sounds like some Telarc audiophile run-through. None of this is typical Top Recommendations stuff for sure!"

Great Stunning Original Performances - But Some Unspeakably

Doug - Haydn Fan | California | 06/14/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Van Beinum and the Concertgebouw can almost always be counted on for solid clean musical performances, performances played with requisite force when required. Of course, this marvelous orchestra's world renown was established by Van Beinum's predecessor, Megelberg. Recordings of the Concertgebouw have long been sought after for the orchestra's unerring balance among the instruments, a remarkably blended tone color throughout the sections, and astonishing pitch - Mengelberg being quite a fanatic about this latter! While Mengelberg could be very free at times with the music, quite the personification of the romantic self-indulegnet conductor of legend, Van Beinum was consistenly noted for a more straightforward approach. This style, carried on by his great successor Haitink, does have some drawbacks - sometimes one might wish for a little more daring and originality.



However, sometimes Van Beinum catches fire, projecting a truly imaginative way with a score, and that's the case here. To the best of my knowledge no one has given a more exciting reading of Debussy's Gigues from the Images - this whole performance goes from strength to strength with tremendous vigor and intensity. What most distinquishes this version is a remarkably virile response to Debussy's latent musical suggestions - which van Beinum explores for all they're worth. Richard Strauss, during a sudden forte passage in the opening of Pelleas, turned to French novelist Romain Rolland and enthused - "That's what you need! You have to hit them over the head so they'll follow you." It appears van Beinum has proceeded much along those lines of though in his interpretation of Debussy. These are extremely extroverted readings, as powerful as any I've ever heard, memorably rich in melodic shapings, and striking in the conductor's devil may care go for broke attacks. We're a long long way from the perfumed approach!



Sadly, this Eloquence issue suffers from violently painful stridency in the early mono recordings of the Images, from 1954. Whatever sonic glories the reviewer who lauded these recordings, especially the Images, heard, they're nowhere to be found on this Eloquence issue! Quite the opposite. The later stereo recordings fare much much better. There is now a reissue of these Debussy on a large box set of van Beinum Philips Recordings 1954-1958, Vol. 2 Issued five years after this CD, one can only hope Philips' engineers have significantly tamed down the highs spoiling the otherwise sensational recording of Debussy's Images."

First class Debussy. Thanks amazon!

R. J. Claster | Van Nuys, CA United States | 04/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are among the best recordings of these pieces. Van Beinum adroitly conveys the sensuousness of this music while at the same time presenting Debussy's multiple lines and textures in a very clear and balanced manner. To put it another way, Van Beinum in these performances shows us that one can bring out the detail in Debussy without sounding clinical, as Boulez tends to do.
Thank you, Amazon, for making this recording, which I have never seen at any local store, available on your site."