Gramophone Magazine
September 2019
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month

London Symphony Orchestra, François-Xavier Roth

Debussy: Première Suite d'Orchestre
Lalo: Cello Concerto in D minor
Wagner: Tannhäuser: Overture
Massenet: Le Cid - Ballet music

The evocative music of Claude Debussy has been described as the foundation of modern music. How did the composer come to develop his unique style though? One of today’s most charismatic conductors, with a reputation for enterprising programming, LSO Principal Guest Conductor François-Xavier Roth presents the UK premiere of a previously lost work by the young Debussy, alongside some of his earliest inspirations.

Debussy’s newly-discovered Première Suite gives a rare insight into just that - the mind of a young composer on the cusp of innovation. It’s a work filled with Romantic and Eastern influences, with glimpses of the unexpected harmonies that came to define Debussy’s work.

Paired alongside the composer’s role models, from Wagner’s powerful intertwining motifs, the abundant Spanish influences in Lalo’s rarely-heard Cello Concerto and Massenet’s majestic Le Cid, François-Xavier Roth gives a fresh perspective on the much-loved composer.

"This film records François-Xavier Roth's first concert as principal guest conductor of the LSO, after some years working together on mostly new music, and it has proved a fine augur of both original, French-accented programming and performances that take nothing for granted." - Gramophone Magazine, September 2019.