Debussy: La mer, Ibéria, Images & 6 Épigraphes antiques

Released in the year of Claude Debussy’s death centenary, this album demonstrates the exceptional harmonic and coloristic richness of his music. The centrepiece of the album is ‘La Mer’ (1903-1905), a musical realization of the composer’s “sincere devotion to the sea” that revolutionized orchestral composition in the early twentieth-century. Ibéria takes the listener on a trip to Spain, whereas the ‘Six Épigraphes antiques’ (1914), here performed in the orchestration of Rudolf Escher, evoke ancient Greece and Egypt. The biggest novelty on this album is Colin Matthews’ new, lush orchestration of ‘Images. Book 1’ (1901-1905), one of Debussy’s most-cherished piano works. With this Debussy collection, the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and its Music Director Gustavo Gimeno continue their acclaimed PENTATONE series of composer portraits that already featured monographs of Shostakovich, Bruckner, Ravel, Mahler and Stravinsky.