BaL 18.05.24 - Debussy: Jeux

[Pulcinella]

3.00pm
Building a Library
French composer Claude Debussy fashioned a taut and intense ballet around a game of tennis, a work which lasts less than twenty minutes. Flora Willson joins Andrew to propose her ultimate recommendation to buy, download or stream.

122 listings on the Presto site here:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/works/48898--debussy-jeux-poeme-danse/browse

[Pulcinella]

[Holding post for further information/comments.]

Previous BaL recommendations:

29/11/2003, Jonathan Swain

Top recommendation:

Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez (conductor) (recorded 1991)
DG 439 896-2 (CD)

Also recommended:

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (conductor) (recorded 1979)
PHILIPS 438 742-2 (2-CD)

L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet (conductor) (recorded 1958)
DECCA 470 255-2 (CD)

The BBC MM CD (Volume 16, Number 10) features the BBCSO under Peter Eötvös: Barbican, 15 February 2003.

[Serial_Apologist]

Mine still has to be Ansermet with the Suisse Romande for this, my favourite Debussy work.

[LMcD]

3.00pm
Building a Library
French composer Claude Debussy fashioned a taut and intense ballet around a game of tennis, a work which lasts less than twenty minutes. Flora Willson joins Andrew to propose her ultimate recommendation to buy, download or stream.

6-0, 5-1 (retired hurt) ?
My only recording is by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink.

[Petrushka]

Haitink must surely be in running for top spot, a quite beautiful performance and recording.

My favourite live performance was one with Rattle and the CBSO which seemed to float. How he achieved this I've no idea but it was quite extraordinary.

[Belgrove]

This was the subject of one of our Summer BAL’s

https://www.for3.org/forums/forum/classical-forum/record-review/our-summer-bal/18370-our-summer-bal-61-debussy-jeux

It took quite a while for this work to click with me, and the much lauded Haitink version never helped. I finally ‘got it’ with the aid of Dutois with the Montreal SO, and Boulez with Cleveland. Roth with Les Siècles is the pick of the modern versions. An amazing piece, quicksilver doesn’t do it justice.

[Pulcinella]

This was the subject of one of our Summer BAL’s

https://www.for3.org/forums/forum/classical-forum/record-review/our-summer-bal/18370-our-summer-bal-61-debussy-jeux

It took quite a while for this work to click with me, and the much lauded Haitink version never helped. I finally ‘got it’ with the aid of Dutois with the Montreal SO, and Boulez with Cleveland. Roth with Les Siècles is the pick of the modern versions. An amazing piece, quicksilver doesn’t do it justice.

Thanks for that link: I thought there had been some more recent dicussion.

[Barbirollians]

One of the worst reviewers so it’s a skip from me - have Haitink ,Rattle and Cluytens