Search - Debussy, Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra :: Orchestral Works (Comp)

An Excellent Collection of Debussy Orchestral Music

David Stadille | Monterey, CA USA | 04/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I received this CD set as a gift, and it's magnificent. I've listened to a dozen Debussy orchestral CDs in as many years, including the Dutoit / Montreal recordings, which are indeed very good. But this set surpasses the current range of Debussy recordings as I know them. I base this on a number of things, not the least of which is my interpretation of the composer. One of the greatest things Claude Debussy did was take two hundred years of otherwise entrenched classical music, extract it from tradition, and give it back to us, in some of the most beautiful, unique, and utterly transcendent musical compositions ever written. Having said this, I think that this particular collection of recorded music serves as a truly wonderful expression of Debussy's intent. To accomplish this, a great orchestra was required, and with that, great orchestration on behalf of Yan Pascal Tortelier. Clearly Tortelier understands Debussy. If you've had the misfortune of listening to Karajan's rendition of Afternoon of a Faune, then you know firsthand how bad of an intrusion a conductor can make on a composer's work. I doubt Karajan had the slightest idea what Debussy was about, whereas Tortelier orchestrates magically, beautifully, in a way that provides us with nothing but access. Adding to this is something I normally don't talk about, because I'm not a serious audiophile. I have some good gear and can certainly hear the difference, but I'm not very interested in the technical aspects of recording as long as the basics are there - I'm interested in the music. I'm glad to listen to a scratchy jazz recording from the 50's. Nonetheless, the recording quality here is as good as it gets and it's only fair to say that it is part of the reason I think so highly of this set. It's tough to record an orchestra, but the engineers succeeded in every way. Example: Listen to the first track of Disk three - The Toy Box - from 1:00 to 1:20. I have never experienced an orchestral recording with such a clear, emergent stereo image, it's stunning. This set is sold under the CHANDOS label, and I've found many of their recordings to be of high quality."