Pierre Boulez - Debussy: Orchestral Works (1995)

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Pierre Boulez - Debussy: Orchestral Works (1995)

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Boulez remains the gold standard for Debussy, and these performances only further cement his absolute sway as interpreter in this great composer's magisterial music. If certain works of Ravel, such as Daphnis et Chloe, or La Valse, call forth qualities of passion and drama that do not interest Boulez, no such shortcomings seem apparent when he approaches Debussy. The degree of exactness, and the uncanny character of the varying sounds of the instruments as they play off one another, remains unrivalled by any other living conductor. Listen, for example, to the opening of Nuages, from the Nocturnes - every possible ramification of note values, color contrasts, and ebb and flow of rhythms is miraculously conveyed. No one else comes close to this fastidiousness. Only a very great orchestra could do this, and the New Philharmonia could easily be mistaken for its legendary predecesor, the original Philharmonia of a decade earlier, one of the greatest of all orchestras.

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Pierre Boulez - Debussy: Orchestral Works (1995)

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These performances on the Sony CD were originally recorded in analogue. I find that a good thing, but if you prefer all digital there are much more recent recordings by Boulez of equal quality on DG. At the price this Sony reissue represents a tremendous bargain.

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Pierre Boulez - Debussy: Orchestral Works (1995)

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