Credits:

Jean Martinon , Orchestre National de France , Alain Marion , Aldo Ciccolini

Description:

Latest reissue of the normative Debussy performance by Martinon.
Mastering at the highest quality of this masterpiece, a historical recording and an excellent old EMI recording!
Newly reissued from the original analogue master tapes. New commentary included.
Limited edition of 1,000 sets with serial number.

A historical legacy of the recordings made by Martinon, who died in 1976, with the Orchestre National de Radio France from 1973 to the following year. This is the latest reissue of this masterpiece, which is regarded as one of Martinon's greatest achievements along with the complete Ravel orchestral works with the Orchestre de Paris, which he also left on the former EMI label at the same time. In addition to being an excellent recording, this set is also a valuable source for a comprehensive collection of Debussy's orchestral works. Mastered separately on SACD and CD using the original analogue master tapes digitised at 192kHz/24bit for the best possible sound quality in their current state. New commentary included. Permanent edition, limited to 1,000 numbered sets.

Following the release of Ravel's complete orchestral works in December 2020, the Definition Series, now in its 50th edition, reissues the orchestral works of Debussy, another leading French music recording by Martinon on the former EMI label. The difference between these recordings and Ravel's is that the orchestras on these recordings are different in that they were made with the Orchestre National de Radio France, the orchestra for which he was music director, rather than with the Orchestre de Paris. The difference between the two is that the orchestra is the Orchestre National de Radio France. This is probably due to the fact that there have been no single stereo recordings of Debussy's orchestral works, whereas Ravel was recorded by Cluytens on EMI (although there is an Engelbrecht disc). Nevertheless, this reputation is not unrelated to the fact that this is the first performance by a conductor of French descent to be recommended, combined with the recording value of EMI's analogue recordings in their final stage of perfection. Debussy's works have a wide dynamic range, and the fine nuances of movement and expression at low volumes are also rich, so it is undeniable that the quality of the recording is one of the factors that greatly affect the reputation of the disc itself. The Martínon disc is a performance that was born to be played.