Debussy: La Mer (CD review)

Also, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune; Images. Daniele Gatti, Orchestre National de France. Sony Classical 88697974002.

I have never been as big a fan of Italian conductor Daniele Gatti as most of the world, but I have to admit there is a lot to like in his new recording of Debussy orchestral works. Where his sometimes flamboyant style can be annoying to me on occasion, he pretty much lights up the Debussy music, especially La Mer and Images, which sound effervescent and imaginative and, well, new again.

The program begins with La Mer, which French composer Claude Debussy (1962-1918) wrote in 1905 as a symbolic representation of the sea. The composer purposely meant for the first movement, “From dawn to noon on the sea,” to be less colorful and scintillating than the other movements, yet Gatti infuses it with a lovely life of its own. After a warmly atmospheric introduction, it opens up beautifully about halfway through to a rapturous melody. In the second movement, “Play of the waves,” Gatti is appropriately playful and light, the dancing waters luminescent, sparkling, and magical.

Then comes that well-known third-movement finale, “Dialogue between wind and waves,” which Gatti pulls off in splendid fashion. It’s such familiar music, it’s hard to believe anyone could do anything particularly innovative with it without upsetting Debussy’s perfectly tuned impressions. Nevertheless, Gatti does just that, managing to conjure up a sweetly rugged vision of the sea that maybe even the composer didn’t imagine. In the end, Gatti’s enthusiasm enriches the experience, making his performance of La Mer one of the more powerful and creative you’ll find. The interpretation bears comparison to those of Martinon, Karajan, Previn, and Stokowski, and that’s compliment, indeed.

Accompanying La Mer, we find a rendering of Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune that isn’t quite as ethereal, dreamlike, or sensuous as those of Karajan or Martinon, but it is a solidly vivid characterization and should not disappoint Debussy fans.

After that, we get the Images for Orchestra, based on work Debussy wrote for piano. The composer intended the Images to be less impressionistic than La Mer, more precise in style and meaning, which Gatti understands. He fills his performance with energy, to be sure, yet it is well-directed energy without an ounce of flab to the reading. There is no romanticizing here, nothing soft or vague. Whether it fully captures the Spanish idiom it reflects is a matter of taste, I suppose, but I found it full of flavor, if in its structured, glowingly ardent presentation.

The sound, recorded in the Salle Lieberman, Opera Bastille, Paris, and Alfortville, France, in 2011, is almost ideal for these works. In the La Mer and Preludes it’s delicate and open, with a wide, deep stereo separation; good tonal balance; a clean, natural lower midrange; and a moderately resonant acoustic. There is a slight forwardness to the upper mids, but it’s mild. While bass could be a bit stronger, dynamics are fine. The Images benefit from even greater impact and more sharply focused definition than La Mer, which is as it should be. Both venues suit the varying temperaments of the music.

JJP