Gramophone Magazine
August 2020
Editor's Choice

Hallé Orchestra, Mark Elder

Debussy: Images for orchestra, L. 122
Debussy: Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fût (No. 2 from Images pour piano - Book 2)
Debussy: La plus que lente
Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

Debussy took seven years to produce Images, following the success of La mer, and the resulting work, which was hailed by Ravel, displays the composer’s mastery in varied material which is at times strident, eschewing any hint of ‘Impressionism’ (a term he disliked), lush and evoking feelings of loss and alienation. Pierre Boulez claimed that “modern music was awoken” by Debussy’s response to Mallarmé’s poem L’après-midi d’un faune and the work, with its sumptuous opening flute line, certainly established the composer’s credentials and has rightly become a cornerstone of orchestral repertoire.

The album features a world premiere recording of Colin Matthew’s orchestration of Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, from the 2nd Book of Images for piano. This arrangement follows Matthews’ universally acclaimed orchestrations of the Debussy Préludes and of Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon featured in the recent Nocturnes release. Debussy himself arranged his piano waltz La plus que lente, said to have been inspired by a fiddler at the New Carlton Hotel in Paris. Delicately orchestrated it is a delightful piece characterised by a constantly changing tempo.

"Speed and pace are finely calibrated, giving the music enough space to allow detail to register without losing sight of momentum or cumulative tension… The outer movements of ‘Ibéria’ are thrilling in their clarity and precision, with some wonderfully impertinent woodwind solos… At the work’s centre, ‘Les parfums de la nuit’ is all heady sensuality, the Hallé strings sounding very lush and sweet… It’s a very fine achievement indeed." - Gramophone Magazine, August 2020.