Customer Reviews

Debussy: Orchestral Music

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

To recap what an earlier review referred to, the "Man From Delray" below seemed more concerned with crotchety silliness than with musically informed reviewing.

I remember snatching up the original Philips LP's of these Haitink performances when they emerged in the late 70's, and being "wowed" then. Yes, Haitink was not, and is not, a ZIP! ZING! POW! conductor. And, outside of a few moments in "Iberia," "La Mer," or "Jeux," you really don't want any of that in these pieces. Sensitivity to dynamics, orchestral color, and evocative phrasing, just to name a few musical virtues...these are what are called for here, and Haitink offers them in spades. That gossamer shimmer in "Nocturnes", for example. It's so easy to sell the imagery short, or just get it plain wrong. Haitink nails it, aided througout by vintage Philips sound that was a model of naturalness in its day, and still holds up nicely.

Could "La Mer" take just a bit more shaping in its ebb/flow moments? Maybe. Karajan managed that in his early 60s version for DG, but his orchestral seas are clearly the North Atlantic, not the Mediterranean. So, there's room for preferences. I still prefer Boulez' old CBS/Sony performance with the New Philharmonia, except for the bone-dry recording. Fritz Reiner and the Chicago, as well as the Munch/Boston reading, really shine in RCA's Living Stereo remasterings. These are just a few of the classic readings that I wouldn't want to be without.

In sum, I wouldn't want to be without Haintink's thoughts on these scores, as well as the late 50's Van Beinum "Berceuse" that fills out the set. If you're REALLY serious about the music, though, fill out your Debussy shelf with a few of the others. Better yet, if you're adept at reading a conductor's score, start building a core library of miniature editions for those pieces that you come back to again and again. In the case of "La Mer," I think the full size Dover edition is still available; the larger format is easier to deal with than the pocket-size score. Read a little critical writing about the musical architecture that you're admiring. Then, listen with the score in front of you, and identify where in a piece that you and the conductor part company. Or agree. I know that this may be above and beyond what the casual listener is up for, but if you're game, you may be surprised where it leads you.

Hard to believe that one of the best bargains in the entire CD catalog was rated at only three stars overall when I happened to stumble across this page. These rank among the finest played and most atmospheric Debussy recordings ever produced. There are certainly none better, and only few that I would put along beside them. Plus, you're getting two very full CDs of Debussy's finest orchestral music for the price of one.

The one star reviews of this recording are absolutely bewildering. This is an outstanding product in a very crowded field.

La Mer was one of the first pieces of classical music that captured my imagination. When performed well, you envision the waves and wind on a restless sea. Here, Haitink has again stimulated my imagination with his performances. You feel the motion of the water and taste the salt upon the wind. Although this is a 2fer, I confess to listening most to the second CD, which contains not only La Mer but also the Nocturnes and the marvelous Dance for Harp (the harp soloist was unfortunately close-miked). These pieces were recorded (analog) in the late 1970s and the sonics are excellent (disk 1 was recorded in 1959). The performance comes across crystal clear. The dynamic range does justice to the demands of these often undulating compositions.

Critics and listeners alike have fawned over these recordings for the better part of three decades. While I regularly find shortcomings in Haitink's recorded approach to Romantic music, I believe he is most comfortable in these and other 20th century creations. I agree with most assessments of this collection, although I find a small shortcoming in one or two performances that keeps this from being a five star recommendation.

To me, the second disk of this two-disk set is far superior to the first. It begins with an exquisitely detailed and evocative account of the popular "Afternoon of the Fawn" and moves into two of Debussy's most notable compositions, ""Noctures" and "La Mer" or "The Sea". In these symphonic canvasses I think Haitink reaches his zenith among all his recordings I've heard.

In "Noctures", "Nuages" is very mysterious and "Fetes" comes on with a tarantella-like dance and high drama with later corresponding excitement. The wordless choir of "Sirenes" is characterized by a calm happiness that morphs gently into a steeper drama before its silent ending. "Nocturnes" is ideally Debussyian in this performance.

If anything, "La Mer" is even better. It is distinguished by exceptional instrumental playing and depth, especially in the closing timpani of the first section. The middle section has notable woodwind interplay with superior playing in the dramatic closing pages of the dialogue. This is one of the best performances of Debussy's famous score I've ever heard.

The first CD offers a snippet from Haitink's predecessor in Holland, Eduard van Beinum, performing the "Berecuse heroique" in a 1959 performance. Of the two major pieces on the first CD, I believe "Jeux" is done best by Haitink, who extracts a cool, almost Stravinskyan, affect from the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Haitink's performance of "Images" is unusually well-played and tirelessly rehearsed to perfection. However, I found this music unidiomatic and lacking characteristic Spanish flavor, especially when "Iberia" is compared to more colorful conductors such as Stokowski.

While "La parfum de la nuit" contains a langorous clarinet solo and extraordinary stereo imaging, the approach is more literal than I've heard in better versions of this music. This is typical of Haitink, who is a literalist that often interprets scores away from personal bias.

The closing section of "Iberia" -- "Le matin d'un jour de fete" -- is lively but, again, not especially Spanish. The first CD closes with an outstanding version of "March ecossaise", six minutes and 43 seconds of riveting virtuosic dance by the orchestra.

All told, these are fine performances that completely eschew eccentricity. Thay have stood the test of time and will continue to do so into the forseeable future. Max Harrison's notes are called "Such Stuff Dreams Are Made Of", a title that captures the mystical & sensitive approach by Haitink and his forces.

In my experience, only one other Haitink performance is more authoritative than his work on this CD -- a Philips set of Stravinsky ballets produced during the same period. Like that collection, the late analog recordings have been transferred to superb sounding digital CDs. Never does a time arrive when a listener will be put off by the sound in this collection.

For the modest asking price, this has to be one of the better Debussy collections for today and tomorrow.

If not the very best orchestral collection, it seems to be the best bargain. More specifically, I would recommend it over the similarly priced Martinon collection on EMI because it spite of the idiomatic qualities of those performances, they are compromised by a rather murky recorded sound, and the orchestral playing is just not in the same league.
The Amsterdam orchestra plays everything beautifully, and Haitink is a very sensitive interpreter. I find the Jeux particularly exquisite. The only caveat I would offer is that the La Mer may sound somewhat bland to those who love the more volatile and fiery Munch performance on RCA Living Stereo. However, some listeners may prefer the warm, rounded tone of the Concertgebouw brass to the pointed, rather nasal sound of the Boston's.

It's almost difficult to add to the praise that has been heaped on these recordings. Somehow Bernard Haitink works a very special magic with these scores, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is equally incandescent. Somehow Haitink's relatively laid-back approach really suits Debussy's ebb and flow. As just one example, the climaxes in "Nocturnes" seem to occur naturally, fairly leaping out of the haze, but then the composer lures you back into his shadowy, quiet world -- Haitink captures all this beautifully.

Some say the orchestra was in its glory days under Haitink. I don't quite agree, having heard them do marvelous work under Chailly and others, but in any case, they were playing at their absolute finest here. The shimmering effects actually *sound* that way, and if you've ever heard an orchestra play Debussy badly, you'll know what I mean. The ensemble's renowned woodwind section sounds glorious, and Debussy gives them many, many opportunities to show off.

Dating from the 1970's, these recordings are excellent, and you might not even think about this issue because the sound quality is so superb. Occasionally a very marginal amount of tape hiss can be discerned -- but now we are truly splitting hairs, since these pieces were recorded in the late days of the analogue era.

Like Haitink's Bartok set with the same orchestra (also two discs), this is fairly essential for those who love the composer. And with its reasonable price, this is not only an essential Debussy recording but a bargain as well.

True, Haitink is not a "ZIP! ZING! POW! conductor" like David A. FLetcher mentioned in his review (I thought it was funny put, so I wanted to quote it), but he sure knows how to let the music do the speaking.

These are not "impressionistic" readings and I'm glad they're not, although the orchestra sounds warm and round, a little "cosy" if you like, but that's fine, I love the sound.

The playing is accurate and flexible and I think Haitink's "Images" is one of the best recordings I heard of this work, next with Boulez' excellent recording on DG.

The "Prelude a l'apres midi.." is a bit on the slow side and some nice details you'll hear in Boulez' recordings (Sony and DG) are somewhat underplayed...or not very good recorded?, but the mood and sound are great.

I think the sound of the RCO and Philips analogue recording are superb and do great justice to Debussy's musical universe.

Boulez might be more idiomatic, his recordings are the standard for me, but the warmer sound of the RCO with Haitink on Philips is something special indeed.

Excellent disc.

When I heard Haitink lead the Boston Symphony on the radio in Brahms' 2nd symphony, I wasn't surprised. He led an exceptionally exciting performance, detailed and invigorating.

Although this may not be the case here, there are colors and intricacies that he got the Dutch players to evoke that even Previn and Ansermet missed out on. I sometimes think that Debussy is conducting this music because during his life he was so indifferent about the musical traditions of his time. Haitink allows the music itself to envelope his players' sensibilities so that what the listener hears is anything but a 'tradtional', orchestral sound, as I would suspect Debussy would have done. After all, this is music, that to Debussy, depicted shimmering waters, passing clouds and tumultuous seas. With all due respect to even Boulez' famous interpretations, Haitink's discs are quite memorable.

This double CD collection is worth purchasing for the Images pour Orchestre alone. Never before has Debussy's scoring been made so transparent by a conductor and orchestra. The Rondes de Printemps is an absolute joy to hear. The Danses Sacree et Profane are also wonderful. There may be better performances of the Nocturnes and Jeux, but you won't go wrong with this collection of Debussy's most important orchestral works.

This set is wonderful for anyone who is looking to get acquainted with Debussy, as well as anyone looking for new interpretations of his famous orchestral work. This 2 disk contains my favorite rendering of the majestic "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", as well as my favorite recording of the three Nocturnes and "Images". These three pieces are improved by the warm and luminous, yet vague ("impressionistic") sound of this recording.

The harp dances sound wonderful. So does the clarinet rhapsodie. The soloist has wonderful tone.

Elsewhere, the audio quality is my only complaint about this set - "La Mer", being as it is a highly dense, orchestrated piece of work, would benefit from added clarity and higher audio fidelity, but the version here is still very good. The other piece that suffers from the overly reverberant, slightly muddy sound is "Berceuse Heroique", an amazing and powerful shorter piece, summarizing whole years of life in a blur of 5 minutes... here, unfortunately, the louder moments turn into incoherent chaos.

All of the playing is fantastic, the intonation is great... I've never heard this music so expressive.

Highly recommended for definitive versions of "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", "Nocturnes" and "Images". Everything else is good as well. 4.5 stars.