Afternoon Delight

This is a double cd of Orchestral Works by Debussy performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink except for the brief Berceuse Heroique where Eduard van Beinum conducts. It is a fine compliation which fills in several gaps in my collection, although it does give me a somewhat redundant third copy of La Mer. In fact, I bought the double cd for just eleven minutes of music, Prelude a L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune. Based as the langourous and sensual interpretation of Mallarme's poem, it is often cited as the beginning of 20th century music. It was the first piece I heard dissected on the radio 3 programme Discovering Music when I embarked on my own discovery of classical music and it was a perfect entry point for me since I could connect with slightly jazzy, blue notes and that famous impressionistic feel. Definitely a piece whose significance far outweighs its' apparent brevity. Although I bought the disk for that one piece, there is plenty more to admire and enjoy. The wonderful Nocturnes and Images, which continue the impressionistic style, and the ballet music Jeux are all substantial and influential works. There is also the Rhapsodie pour orchestre et clarinette principale with George Pieterson on clarinet and Danses pour harpe et orchestre a cordes in which Vera Bades is the harp soloist. All in all, a comprehensive overview of Debussy's works for orchestra.