Debussy: La mer, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, etc.

On this CD:

1. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), for orchestra, L. 86
Composed by Claude Debussy
Performed by Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Charles Munch

2. Nocturnes, for female chorus & orchestra, L. 91 No 2, Nuages
Composed by Claude Debussy
Performed by Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Charles Munch

3. Nocturnes, for female chorus & orchestra, L. 91 No 2, Fêtes
Composed by Claude Debussy
Performed by Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Charles Munch

4. Images (3), for orchestra, L. 122 No 2, Ibéria
Composed by Claude Debussy
Performed by Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Charles Munch

Debussy: La mer, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, etc., Music, Claude Debussy, Charles Münch, Boston Symphony Orchestra, 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music, 20th/21st Century Orchestral Work with Descriptive Title, Classical, Classical Music, Concerto, Orchestral, Orchestral Music

Debussy: La Mer; Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; etc.
Average customer rating:

Debussy awash in color, warm and affectionate

Not for flutists

May not be the best in Debussy, but still thumbs up!

Debussy: La Mer; Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; etc.

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Bernstein: Prelude, Fugue and Riffs

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Brahms: Symphony No. 4 / Overtures

Brahms: Symphony 2 / Symphony 3 / Bernstein

ASIN: B00000I9GE
Release Date: 1999-03-16

Tracks:

I. De l'aube a midi sur la mer. Tres lent
II. Jeux de vagues. Allegro
III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer. Anime et tumultueux
Tres modere
Tres lent -Scherzando-Mouvement de prelude-Assez anime- Mouvement de valse-Mouvement de prelude
I. Nuages Modere- Un peu anime
II. Fetes. Anime et tres rythme-Modere mais toujours tres rythme- De plus en plus sonore et en serrant le mouvement

Customer Reviews:

Debussy awash in color, warm and affectionate.......2007-02-20

Our listening to Debussy was forever changed when Pierre Boulez, Bernstein's immediate successor at the NY Phil., began to make recordings that were models of clarity and detail, x-raying the score and making every chord crystalline. Compared to that approach, LB's Debussy (all of it early, from 1960-61) is extroverted, colorful, and loose arounnd the edges. It's much more celebratory than Boulez's, but modern listeners might find these performances a bit thick-textured and brash. They are never praised very much, despite their verve and musicality.

I love them because "warm" Debussy has become an extinct style, and all these readings (like Stokowski's Debussy) are irrepressibly sunny. The NY Phil. was an orchestra of virtuosos, as is evident from Julius Baker's flute in Afternoon of a Faun, backed up by the exquisite oboe of Harold Gomberg. I lament that Columbia Records was apparently too cheap to hire a chorus for the third of Debussy's Trois Nocturnes, but the remaining two movements are splashy and more extroverted than one often hears. There's such naturalness in Bernstein's phrasing that nothing sounds precious or mannered--no mean feat in Debussy.

The unusual feature here is the enigmatic Jeux, a late work written for a Diaghalev ballet featuring tennis players and choreographed by no less than Nijinsky. You can see why the ballet wasn't a hit; Debussy's harmonies are enigmatic, there are no tunes, not even a definable structure. Seventeen minutes of diaphanous color wash isns't easy to follow, but Bernstein's warmth and spontaneous expression bring the work alive, far more than usual. I think this reading could win Jeux more fans than the antiseptic dissections we've gotten used to in the post-Boulez era.

Not for flutists.......2004-10-16

I was really disappointed after hearing "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" on this CD. The opening solo flutist uses a "nanny-goat" vibrato that was popular some years ago and is out of tune. The other selections on the CD are OK, but I don't think I can ever listen to "Faun" again.

May not be the best in Debussy, but still thumbs up!.......2001-01-09

Bernstein may not be the best conductor when it comes onDebussy, but I think this is one of the best Debussy performances Iever heard. Karajan is excellent, because his recordings sounds likean impressionistic romantist (even though he is German, instead ofFrench.), while Boulez performs as if he wants to charm us with pure,seductive beauty and violence; A real music show-biz! Bernstein iskind of between these two, but I recommend you should try listening toDebussy's "La Mer". (You should at least listen to thestormy third movement, and the brilliant climax.)Too bad the CDdoesn't have the third movement ("Sirens") from"Nocturnes", really bad! (It surely disappointed me, but Ibought the CD for "La Mer".) But if you don't care aboutthat, you should buy this CD. If you came for complete music of"Nocturnes", too bad. Find elsewhere. (You should buy theone by Boulez, or Abbado.) If you're looking for only highlyrecommended CDs by Debussy (Because Boulez is probably the grandestguy around.), and tends to believe in what "professional"music critics say, then buy Boulez instead. For follower reviewers ,you don't have to believe in me, But I simply love Bernstein doingDebussy. He may not be the best in Debussy, but still thumbs up! Tome, it is a masterpiece. (But I love Boulez doing Debussy as well. Ireviewed one of his Debussy CDs before, if you want to read it. )Believe in me or not, it's your choice whether you like it or not!Can't blame you.

Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; Nocturnes; Etc. [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

Heaven
Nothing special

Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; Nocturnes; Etc. [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Lullabies & Berceuse | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 [Hybrid SACD]
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale [Hybrid SACD]
Berlioz: Requiem [Hybrid SACD]
Sibelius: The Symphonies [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B0007QJ1KC
Release Date: 2005-03-22

Customer Reviews:

Heaven.......2005-09-15

Absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful reading of Debussy's work.

You won't be sorry, trust me.

Nothing special.......2005-06-12

Young Mr Jarvi enters a crowded field and shows that he is not really the man to make this music come to life. The performances don't suggest any insight into the lush afternoon af a yearning faun, nor is the sea as portrayed here something to be in awe of. A puddle instead of a sea. There is a distinct lack of personality behind this conducting, it sounds like Jarvi is beating time only. No emotional surges, no real festivities in the "Nocturnes". Listen to Karajan, Haitink, to name two, and you enter a different world. The surround sound is very pleasant though.

Debussy: La Mer; 2 Nocturnes; Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; etc.

Average customer rating:

Classic Cantelli Recycled

Debussy: La Mer; 2 Nocturnes; Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; etc.

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pavanes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; The Firebird Suite (1919)

ASIN: B00076ONPU
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
I. Nuages
II. Fetes
I. De L'Aube A Midi Sure La Mer
II. Jeux De Vagues
III. Dialogue Du Vent Et De La Mer
I. La Cour Des Lys (Prelude)
II. Danse Extatique Et Final Du Premier Acte
III. La Passion -
IV. Le Bon Pasteur
Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte

Customer Reviews:

Classic Cantelli Recycled.......2005-02-10

Generally, I've been a big fan of EMI's new "Great Artists of the Century" series (see my reviews of titles featuring Karajan, Menuhin, Boult, du Pre, Furtwangler, etc), but this title from the most recent batch of releases has left me scratching my head a bit. Don't get me wrong, I love Guido Cantelli -- a brilliant conductor taken from the world all too soon -- and his Debussy recordings featured here are among the very best ever made, despite being recorded in mono in the early 1950s. It's just that this exact material has been available for years via the UK's Testament label (the Debussy on SBT 1011 -- see my review -- and the Ravel on SBT 1017), as these performances were licensed to that company by EMI. Now it seems EMI is calling the flock home, as it begins to reissue under its own name many of the treasured historical recordings that ten years ago they wouldn't touch. I hope this doesn't spell doom for Testament, a wonderful company that has been satisfying classical connoisseurs for more than a decade. Of course, EMI can afford to price their reissues at midline while Testament must charge full price, presumably to make up for all the licensing fees they incur. So overall, I'm torn. I'm happy that great music is being disseminated to a larger audience at an affordable price, but I just hope it's not at the expense of the little guy.