Debussy: Orchestral Works [Chandos: CHSA 5102[2]] [Hybrid SACD, SACD]

I must say I was very impressed by the detail and beauty of both the performance and the recording of this Debussy music. I followed up with re-listening to versions of the three major pieces, Nocturnes, Images, and La Mer plus the Faun in my collection by Previn, Haitink, Boulez, Tortleir, Ashkenazy, etc. But rather then going laboriously through each of the compared recordings, I'll touch on some here and there.

Compared recordings:
Three Nocturnes:
Tortelier - Ulster (Chandos CHAN 8914) (1990) (DDD)
Boulez - Cleveland (DG 439 896-2) (1993) (DDD)
Ashkenazy - Cleveland (London 417488-2) (1987) (DDD)
Haitink - Concertgebouw (Philips 438 742-2) (1979) (ADD)
Previn - London (EMI CDC 7 47028 2) (1983) (DDD)
Abbado - Boston (DG 415 370-2) (1986 CD re-issue from an original recording from 1970) (ADD)

Images:
Tortelier - Ulster (Chandos CHAN 8850) (1990) ) (DDD)
Haitink - Concertgebouw (Philips 438 742-2) (1979) (ADD)
Previn - London (EMI CDC 7 47001 2) (1979) (DDD)

La Mer:
Tortelier - Ulster (Chandos CHAN 8850) (1990) ) (DDD)
Boulez - Cleveland (DG 439 896-2) (1993) (DDD)
Ashkenazy - Cleveland (London 417488-2) (1987) (DDD)
Haitink - Concertgebouw (Philips 438 742-2) (1979) (ADD)
Previn - London (EMI CDC 7 47028 2) (1983) (DDD)
SACDs of La Mer Only:
Long - Singapore (BIS SACD-1447) Seascapes - Sharon Bezaly
Nezet-Seguin - Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montreal (ATMA SACD2 2549) Debussy: La Mer - Nézet-Séguin
Jansons - Concertgbouw (RCO Live RCO 08001) Debussy, Dutilleux, Ravel - Jansons

Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun:
Previn - London (EMI CDC 7 47001 2) (1979) (DDD)
Ashkenazy - Cleveland (London 417488-2) (1987) (DDD)
Oue - Minnesota (Reference Recordings RR-99CD listened to in HDCD)

Performance
Stéphane Denève with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra gives us Debussy interpretations that are carefully wrought, sensitive and dramatic when needed. Denève presents delicately and beautifully phased nuances in Images as well as high drama. La Mer, where he produces the ebb and flow needed for a great performance. The tensions come through as well as Previn, Boulez or Jansons, who all do great Debussy. In Nocturnes, Denève's delicately nuanced Sirens was delectable and the chorus's delicacy and combined beauty were ravishing. Credit must also go to the choir master, Timothy Dean. Also, Denève places the sopranos who have the most to sing on the right side, which perfectly compliments and balances the first violins on the left. Only the Haitink did it this way in all the other recordings I compared the Nocturnes too. Regarding Faun, I found that Oue's faun was the best because of Adam Kuenzel's more hypnotic and sensual flute playing and Oue's more flowing interpretation. Also, Abbado's recording of the Nocturnes from 1970 is excellent with a greater sense of urgency during Fetes and overall heightened drama and excellent acoustics captured from Boston's Symphony Hall.

However, a couple small caveats, Denève seems to loose some detail in the orchestra just before the ending climax of "Dialogue of the wind and the sea". Perhaps they are not playing loud enough. This reduces the heightened drama. Also, a small caveat is that the last loud cymbal crash at the end of La Mer was a little too loud, louder than any of my other recordings, so beware, because it hurt my ears. I still love Previn's climax to "Dialogue of the wind and the sea", as it always gives me goose bumps and chills up and down my arms every time I hear it. Denève emphasizes the Cymbal Crash and Previn emphasizes the ending brass tuttis, both work well, but Previn is able to give us an even greater sense of drama without the ultra loud cymbal crashes. (Unfortunately, Previn's recording is a little harsh with less hall ambiance compared to the new Chandos recording and of course, no surround sound.)

So, in conclusion, Denève, has captured the nuances and delicacy of Debussy's visions and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has executed those visions in beautiful performances. Denève has produced a Debussy performance where one gets swept up in the wave's undulations, and lost in the sudden swings of emotion. Denève has done a wonderful job here. 4 ½ stars.

Recording
Ralph Couzens, the recording engineer, has out done himself in this recorded representation of The Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. First, I compliment him for giving the best choral recording of Sirens I have ever heard. The voices of the choir were absolutely ravishing in their realism. Closing my eyes, it was if I was sitting there in Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow at about the 10 row back relishing in their beautiful tones. As is typical of his work he has a slightly distant microphone technique that defines the orchestra in 2 dimensional space, left to right and front to back. Strings are clearly closest to us and have a beautiful sheen to them which Chandos is known for, then the woodwinds which are spread a little bit too far apart, left to right. But they are much better balanced here in the front to back position compared to his Delius SACD where they are way too far back, and then the brass and percussion are in the back. The string basses, bass drum, and timpani are very good. There is really nice reverberation captured from the hall that gives you that you-are-there experience of surround sound that makes SACD multi-channel so worth it. Over all, this is one of Chandos' best multi-channel recordings, and I have to admit it, it is the best recorded Debussy music that I have heard except for Oue's Faun (no one has surpassed Dr. Johnson's orchestral recordings on his Reference Recordings label).

One final small caveat: The booklet goes so far as to give us Debussy's complete detailed French descriptions of each movement, but does not provide any translation, so it leaves it up to the reader to type the French descriptions into Google translator or find translations on the internet.

Overall 4 ½ stars. I wouldn't be surprised if this wins a Grammy, a Diapason d'or award or a Grand Prix du Disque or all three. Since Amazon does not have a 4 1/2 star rating I leaning just a little bit above 4 1/2 stars so I'll make it 5 stars.

To celebrate Debussy's 150th anniversary, there will be more than a few recordings of the same handful of orchestral works. Chandos delivers a good catalog-filler here, in the sense that their catalog might need some staple Debussy from a UK orchestra, in this case the Royal Scottish Nat'l Orch. from Glasgow. Deneve led them for seven seasons before recently stepping down, and he's accomplished in French music. So it's a real pleasure to hear how lovely and delicate the playing is on this twofer.

Denever's general style is attentive, atmospheric, and somewhat subdued. If you would like to hear more modetly scaled versions of these familiar works, you have a good possible choice here. The alternative are more powerful and virtuosic, form the likes of boulez, Karajan, Levine, Munch, and others, whose orchestras make more of Debussy's scintillating orchestration. For the pluses and minuses of Deneve's approach, you might sample Gigues, the first movement of Images, which is quite alive and rhythmically flexible, and then turn to Nuages, the opening movements of the Three Nocturnes, which strikes me as underplayed and too restrained. the other interpretations offer the same back-and-forth between sensitive interpretations and a certain lack of impact - this isn't dramatic symphonic Debussy.

The lead reviewer has described the sound well: the orchestra is captured clearly with a nice sheen and air around the instruments; the sonic perspective is somewhat distant. I happened to listen to a rival recording of three works included here - La mer, Afternoon of a Faun, and Images - with Daniele Gatti and the Orchestre National de France. so far as execution and sonics go, they leave this recording in the dust. Deneve has an edge in being more idiomatic, but Gatti's music-making is brilliant and sensual. I gave them four stars for opposite reasons, yet in the end the Gatti is a more memorable experience.

3.5 stars overall

I thought I'd add a mini-review for the SACD-stereo layer and rbcd-cd layer. I'm pleased with the recording quality even if the concert hall is cavernous. The ratings are on a basis of comparison to some of the leading available recordings on rbcd, many of which I own. Although, I am not stating that there is one absolute interpretation or approach, this mini-review may come across that way.

(-) Images is below average

(+) Jeux is excellent

(0) Nocturnes is average to slightly above

(0) La Mer is average to slightly above

(+) Faune is excellent, much better than the average recording

There aren't enough instances of the other works being recorded for comparison.

In general, the tempos and interpretation are nice throughout. My gripes are with the wind instruments in Images and Nocturnes. (-) There is some funky oboe vibrato/tremolo in Images and indifference as well as lack of musical seduction in Iberia's slow movement. (-) Sloppy trumpet section playing in Nocturnes Fetes.

For Images, my favorite rendition is Rosenthal with the Paris Opera Orchestra (HDTT). Dutoit/Montreal (Decca), Boulez/Cleveland (DG), and Reiner/Chicago (Living Stereo) are also very nice in their own way.

My recommendation is for SACD collectors to buy for the Jeux and Faune. This Debussy Images was disappointing. The Nocturnes and La Mer are good, but there is no reason to go out and buy unless you absolutely must have these on SACD.

Chandos might consider reissuing as a single disc just the Juex and Faune with the orchestral transcription works to reach the 80 minutes. Then the single disc would probably be considered a definitive disc for those works.

I hope this mini-review helps those of you who are considering the album. I will recommended based on the excellent Jeux and Faune only.