Debussy: La Mer

“[Sitkovetsky] cuts an assertive line through [Dutilleux's L'arbre des Songes]' dark dissonance like a Gallic philosopher illuming the absurd. Jansons's orchestra is delicious in swarming, weightless textures. On either side, more solid works appear. Debussy's heaving, salty La Mer surges vividly, although not always with the threatening undercurrents that awed the non-swimming composer. Ravel's La Valse careers deliriously with grotesque steps neatly played, a rumbustious contrast to Dutilleux's contemporary scintillations.” The Times, 17th May 2008 ****

“With excellent performances of Debussy's La mer, Ravel's La valse, and Henri Dutilleux' violin concerto L'arbre des songes, Jansons demonstrates that he can also hold his own in French repertoire.This is actually an understatement, since in La mer the briny seawater splashes in your face and you feel the swelling of the waves, the ebb and flow, and the thrusting flow of the tide in a way that rarely happens in other recordings. In La valse it is immediately the suggestive, secret mysterious opening bars that under Jansons' direction imperceptibly and gradually lead, first carefully but shortly thereafter irresisibtly, to a dancing waltz. The progression to the sinister dance of death in the last section becomes inevitable. Dmitry Sitkovetsky is the first-class soloist in Dutilleux' fantastic violin concerto-a modern masterpiece for which the strongest possible case is made. RCO 08001 is a high point in the entire catalog.” Erik Voermans, Parool, 4th March 2008

“...Jansons has the courage to explore the darkness behind the Gallic sophistication. So the fierceness of the spray is almost palpable in Debussy's La Mer, and there is menace in the way Ravel's La Valse whirls towards its conclusion. The Concertgebouw Orchestra has the subtlety of colouring to bring something of its own to the music, from the pastel-edged tints of its solo woodwind to the velvety warmth of its strings and the edge of its brass. Last but not least, Dmitry Sitkovetsky explores the dreamland of Dutilleux's "violin concerto" with insight to match the composer's glistening orchestral writing.” The Telegraph, 26th April 2008

“The magic of Jansons's conducting with the orchestra of which he is chief conductor could not be more compelling.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

“The Prélude à l'Après-Midi opens with a beautifully shaped flute solo, but then becomes too generalised, without enough stabs of drama to lift its general mood of indolence, while La Mer motors along rather complacently and Jeux totally lacks the quicksilver wit and colouristic imagination that makes it one of the most elusive and potent of Debussy's late works. Whether it's more obvious delight in the luxuriance of the textures, or a sharper analytical insight into the way in which the pieces are constructed, it needs more character; what we get instead is elegant, undemanding background music.” The Guardian, 30th May 2008 **

“Debussy ushered in the modern age with breezy whole-tone scales and mere impressions of keys, which the musicians under Märkl paint with delicious colour. Märkl moves the phrases of La Mer like plump, urgent waves, or smoothes them like the deceptive calm ready to surge at any moment. A sense of lurking danger might have been more apparent, however. The Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune paints beautifully the dancing sunlight but lacks that haunting hollowness in the flute that evokes the pagan past. Jeux is both playful and as tense as a tennis racket. But Children's Corner is a little overpowering for the nursery, the jauntiness now rather grotesque in expanded form.” The Times, 24th May 2008 ***

“…this is bewitching music-making that should on no account be missed… One of the finest discs Naxos has ever released.” Classic FM Magazine Orchestral Disc of the Month

“Markl and his players acquit themselves admirably, and as one-stop shopping for some of Debussy's most engaging orchestral works it's hard to beat.” American Record Guide