INKPOT#91 CLASSICAL MUSIC: DEBUSSY Nocturnes. La Mer. Ibéria. RAVEL Alborada del gracioso. Rapsodie espagnole. Daphnis et Chloé Suite No.2. Le Tombeau de Couperin. La Valse. SWR Stuttgart Radio SO/Celibidache (DG)

DG Celibidache Edition Vol.IV

Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Nocturnes · La Mer · Ibéria

Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Alborada del gracioso · Rapsodie espagnole · Daphnis et Chloé Suite No.2 · Le Tombeau de Couperin · La Valse

SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
conducted by SERGIU CELIBIDACHE

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 453 194-2
3 discs [61:20 + 52:08 + 50:00] full-price
+ rehearsal disc of La Mer

Whereas Volume III offered a view of Celibidache at his most subjective, Volume IV offers us a view of Celibidache at his most inspired. Whilst his view of Strauss could be described as being somewhat half-hearted, his opinion of the French impressionism of Ravel and Debussy was never other than at its highest.

Not one of the pieces on these three discs disappoints, and from the very first note on any one of these discs you are immediately aware of a supreme master at work. If we had nothing by Celibidache other than the miraculous performance of Ravel's second suite from Daphnis he would still be numbered among the giants of twentieth century conducting.

Ravel suggested that Daphnis and Chloé, written as a ballet, should really be approached as a symphony. It is marked by vivid characterisation and extremely adroit orchestration. Celibidache's performance is totally organic in that every part grows out of the preceding elements - the effect to make for an intense performance of the work. It only confirms many people's view of Celibidache as a great interpreter of French music and adds definition to Barenboim's description of Celibidache as a magician.

Listening to these seductive performances I was constantly thinking of Charles Munch and André Cluytens, both masters of interpreting Debussy and Ravel. Ravel is notoriously difficult to record on disc, notably because of the gigantic orchestral forces needed and the astonishingly beautiful sounds that the orchestrations require. That these 1970s performances are so transparently presented owes much to Celibidache's innate ability to separate textures, even in the loudest fortissimo.

This is no more evident than in the sensational closing pages of Ravel's La Valse where Celibidache whips up his orchestra into a frenzied final waltz but is able to retain the orchestral balance enough for the themes to be savoured and the tension discharged. It is fabulously conducted by Celibidache and has to be heard to be believed. No other performance marries weight and delicacy so convincingly, not even de Sabata in a legendary recording with the Vienna Philharmonic (Nuovo Era NUOV 2219). The Celibidache La Valse is a supreme example of orchestral choreography at its most intoxicating.

In Ravel's two Spanish inspired pieces, Alborado del gracioso and the Rapsodie espagñol, Celibidache avoids the mistake taken by many a conductor of making these purely orchestral showpieces. The Alborado is infectiously played, with the bassoon cadences in the central section given the Celi-rhythmic treatment. Again, one is astonished by the articulation of the playing and the delicacy with which Celibidache deftly handles Ravel's complex, and sudden, changes of pace and tempi.

The very opening of the Rapsodie seems menacing, but Celibidache's approach is to really create an atmosphere of unrest. This then changes to a beautiful langurousness and sheen. In a word, the performance shimmers. String glissandi are beautifully captured and there is no lack of understanding what the music is about: the Habanera section is beautifully lazy, for example. The final Feria captures Celibidache at his most fiery with his orchestra playing with stunning virtuosity.

Like the Ravel pieces, Celibidache programmed Debussy often. There are at least six different versions of La Mer on CD conducted by the great man. Until hearing this 1977 La Mer I had considered his finest performance to be one from 1991 with the Munich Philharmonic (Meteor, MCD-033, coupled with an unforgettable Wagner prelude from Tristan). The Munich performance is overtly symphonic and reveals astonishing details. It is, however, markedly slower than this 1977 La Mer, the third movement some two and a half minutes longer than the performance on this CD.

Both performances reveal the same inner-sound that Celibidache obtained from integrating the different surfaces of rhythm and instrumentation. Among many illuminating instances is the clearly audible sound of the harps in the first movement after the divided cello theme. You will search far to find another performance where this is so clearly heard. Where the Stuttgart performance scores over his Munich one is in the tendency for Celibidache to change to more eruptive tempi, at the close of the second movement, for example. There is the evident long-breathed style in this performance that defines the later recording, but it is more surreptitiously and sparingly used. This performance has a quite exhilirating sweep that places it amongst the finest ever made.

In both Nocturnes and Ibéria the sonorities vibrate superbly. Structures are superbly built, with the electric intensity of Debussy's scoring given full prominence. The women's chorus at the end of the Nocturnes is perfectly judged so the etherealism of the event is captured. Nowhere else are the voices treated so clearly as individual instruments and the effect is to give us a wonderfully pure sonority. Both performances are marked by a clear balance of textures. Revisiting these familiar pieces one is constantly aware of a painter at work, rather than just looking at a finished work of art. These performances are constantly interactive.

There have been many fine individual performances of these French pieces by a great many conductors (Karajan, Haitink, Guilini, Paray, Munch, etc), but I have never before come across a complete set of these impressionist masterpieces that so wonderfully illuminates the beauty of the orchestration. The orchestral playing is superlative throughout, and the analogue sound is very natural. Although these discs are available separately, I would strongly urge purchasing the complete set, for these performances will repay repeated listening.

Of the two volumes (III and IV) it is the French discs which bring the greatest enjoyment. They are simply indispensible for all lovers of Ravel and Debussy. Both sets contain rehearsal discs, although they will be of little direct use unless you can understand German, and Deutsche Grammophon, unlike EMI in their Celibidache edition, do not provide translations. It is an oversight they should correct for future releases in this magnificent series. Whilst a minor gripe, it does not detract from the sheer pleasure of being able to hear this great conductor at work.