Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Classics Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Claude Debussy’s Birth

By -

New and catalog releases highlight both Debussy’s range of works as well as the rich history of his works on recordings

On August 22, 1862 Achille-Claude Debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en Laye, near Paris. In 1872 he entered the Paris Conservatoire and, as a student, won numerous prizes eventually culminating with the Prix de Rome. While at school he began composing and at the age of 19 performed his own music in public for the first time. His first major masterpiece, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, whose dream world awoke modern music in Pierre Boulez’s memorable phrase, was premiered in 1894. From then on he continued to compose in a variety of formats (symphonic, opera, chamber, song, etc) until his death in 1918 at the age of 55.

To celebrate Debussy’s extraordinary music, Deutsche Grammophon and Decca have come together to feature a number of benchmark catalog recordings as well as new recordings. The Debussy Edition (available May 1) is an 18-CD set that highlights all aspects of Debussy’s creative output. The set includes all his important works: orchestral (with Pierre Boulez & The Cleveland Orchestra); piano (with Krystian Zimerman, Mitsuko Uchida); opera (Claudio Abbado’s Pelléas et Mélisande); mélodies (with Véronique Dietschy); chamber music (with Melos Quartett, Augustin Dumay, Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Maria João Pires). Included is a bonus CD of historic recordings by Ansermet, Gulda, Souzay, Borkh and others.

A 6-CD set, Debussy Piano Edition (May 1), focuses on the piano music which holds a particularly important position within the composer’s oeuvre. The set includes Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s widely-praised survey supplemented with recordings of the original works for piano duet and two pianos as well as Ravel’s transcriptions for two pianos of some Debussy orchestral works. The two sonatas, for violin and cello, with piano are included as well as the rarely-recorded Fantaisie for piano and orchestra, making this set as comprehensive as possible.

Additional surveys of the catalog include a 2-CD set, Clair de Lune (May 1), featuring orchestral and piano favorites. A 6-CD set, Pierre Boulez Conducts Debussy & Ravel (May 8), includes three discs featuring the conductor and The Cleveland Orchestra in stunning recordings of Nocturnes, Jeux, La Mer, Images pour orchestra and much more.

Comments

Iyarkaya said…
111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon: 111 CD reviews PDF Guide Anthology

http://knowingyourself1.blogspot.in/2012/09/111-years-of-deutsche-grammophon-111-cd.html
September 5, 2012 at 6:58 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more