Debussy / Halle / Baker - Images [CD]

The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder follow their recent highly acclaimed Debussy Nocturnes album, with a stunning orchestral collection including a world premiere recording. Debussy took seven years to produce Images, following the success of La mer, and the resulting work, which was hailed by Ravel, displays the composer's mastery in varied material which is at times strident, eschewing any hint of 'Impressionism' (a term he disliked), lush and evoking feelings of loss and alienation. Pierre Boulez claimed that "modern music was awoken" by Debussy's response to Mallarmé's poem L'après-midid'un faune and the work, with it's sumptuous opening flute line, certainly established the composer's credentials and has rightly become a cornerstone of orchestral repertoire. The album features a world premiere recording of Colin Matthew's orchestration of Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, from the 2nd Book of Images for piano. This arrangement follows Matthews' universally acclaimed orchestrations of the Debussy Préludes and of Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon featured in the recent Nocturnes release.