Debussy: Orchestral Works Vol 2 (Incls 'Pelleas et Melisande', 'Nocturnes' & '12 Etudes')

"Three fine orchestrators give us a most welcome addition to the near-perfect output of Claude Debussy/ These are well-crafted arrangements of music from the opera Pelléas et Mélisande, and of four piano works, one ubiquitous and three slightly more obscure. Throw in the popular Nocturnes, and the lesser-heard Berceuse, and you get over an hour of delicious listening. This disc is well worth the effort." (MusicWeb Feb 2009)

Debussy's orchestral works are much loved for their exquisite orchestrations, poetically nuanced harmonies and almost magical evocations of time and place. He achieved his first significant success in 1900 with Nocturnes, which portrays in three movements clouds reflected in the sea, holiday festivals in the Bois de Boulogne and the fatally seductive song of the Sirens. The Pelléas et Mélisande Symphony was derived by Marius Constant from the orchestral episodes of Debussy's famous opera, while the Trois Études are heard in a revealing orchestration of the piano originals by the contemporary Swiss composer, Michael Jarrell.