Debussy: La Damoiselle élue, Le martyre de Saint Sébastien & Nocturnes

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Fragments of Debussy’s incidental music for Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien, arranged by Caplet, are the moody centrepiece of this orchestral survey under Mikko Franck. It’s the thrillingly atmospheric... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2022, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 8th Apr 2022
Catalogue No: ALPHA777
Label: Alpha
Length: 68 minutes

Record Review

9th April 2022

Record of the Week

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Debussy: La Damoiselle élue

Work length20:28

Album only

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Maîtrise de Radio France, Chœur de Radio France
Mikko Franck

Debussy: Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien - Fragments symphoniques

Work length24:31

$4.50

$6.80

$9.20

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Mikko Franck

I. La Cour des lys

Track length4:06

$1.00

$1.50

$2.05

II. Danse extatique et final du premier acte

Track length7:15

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

III. La passion

Track length6:18

$1.00

$1.50

$2.05

IV. Le bon pasteur

Track length6:52

$1.00

$1.50

$2.05

Debussy: Trois Nocturnes

Work length23:50

$3.50

$5.30

$7.15

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Chœur de Radio France
Mikko Franck

I. Nuages

Track length6:50

$1.00

$1.50

$2.05

II. Fêtes

Track length6:40

$1.00

$1.50

$2.05

III. Sirènes

Track length10:20

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

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The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck continue their collaboration with Alpha Classics and here invite the Maîtrise and Choeur de Radio France to join them in a Debussy programme. This recording couples La Damoiselle élue, a work described by the composer as a ‘little oratorio in a mystical and somewhat pagan vein’, the Nocturnes for orchestra, composed between 1897 and 1899, and the ’symphonic fragments’ from Le Martyre de saint Sébastien fashioned by André Caplet less than a year after the work’s first performance, and which ensured it would not be forgotten by posterity.

Reviews

July 2022

Fragments of Debussy’s incidental music for Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien, arranged by Caplet, are the moody centrepiece of this orchestral survey under Mikko Franck. It’s the thrillingly atmospheric Nocturnes which steal the show, however.

Nov/Dec 2022

Nocturnes gets the most beguiling performance on the disc; under Franck’s direction, the instrumental timbres glint like the lights in Whistler’s painting. Throughout this Debussy program, the recorded sound is very clear, yet tends to lack warmth.

July 2022

The music is a good fit for Mikko Franck and his French Radio forces. The key to their success, I think, is clarity – plus, of course, an inbred feeling for the music’s distinctive inflection and colour.

14th April 2022

Franck proves to be a warmly expressive Debussy interpreter, emphasising the romantic background to Damoiselle Élue, and giving a warm glow to the Nocturnes; but he also finds just the right sense of hieratic detachment for the Saint Sébastien pieces, providing a reminder that there is nothing else quite like them in Debussy’s output.

Debussy: La Damoiselle élue, Le martyre de Saint Sébastien & Nocturnes

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