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Claude DEBUSSY (1862–1918)
Debussy Orchestrated
Petite Suite (orch. Büsser) (1886–1889) [14:29]
La boîte à joujoux (orch. Caplet) (1913) [31:41]
Children’s Corner (orch. Caplet) (1906–1908) [18:04]
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire/Pascal Rophé
rec. 7–8 January 2021; Centre de congrès, Angers, France
BIS BIS-2622 SACD [65:07]

Part of BIS’ very fruitful collaboration with Lan Shui and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra were three absolutely gorgeous discs of Debussy orchestral music recorded in state of the art SACD sound. One of those discs I reviewed for this site, summing it up as “another BIS triumph”. Slightly curiously, BIS have sought to out-do themselves with another Debussy disc again in stunning SACD sound which duplicates the main work from the earlier disc – La Boîte à Joujoux. Whereas that earlier disc brought together Debussy’s three main balletic works, this new disc is entitled “Debussy Orchestrated”. Three works that span Debussy’s creative life are brought together in famous, effective and wholly idiomatic orchestrations by Debussy’s friends and colleagues Henri Büsser and André Caplet. Collectors will be familiar with each of these works and they are all available in various couplings and discs both older and more recent.

That being the case, there is always the question of whether we need another disc recycling well-known repertoire. My belief is that there is always room for another performance if that performance is insightful and compelling. This new disc from Pascal Rophé and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire is certainly that. This is their second disc for BIS – the first of music by Dukas and Roussel was very fine indeed and this disc builds on that success. They key to both discs is the understated excellence of the BIS engineering allied to the idiomatic and attractive playing of the French orchestra. Not that their actual sound has the instantly identifiable timbre of ensembles such as the Orchestre National de l'O.R.T.F. when they recorded the same repertoire with Jean Martinon in the 70’s for EMI. But these modern French players do have a poise and elegance that suits this music to perfection. Throughout the strings do not have the immaculate sheen of their Singaporian counterparts but the result of that is to make the music sound more astringently modern than on the earlier disc.

Rophé is a naturally empathetic interpreter of Debussy with a little more fantasy and sense of natural rubato than Jun Markl achieved across his six disc survey of Debussy for Naxos. Markl’s Orchestre National de Lyon are another refined group and volumes 5 and 6 of that survey include all the works played here along with a number of other interesting Debussy orchestrations. In En Bateau – the first and most famous movement of the Petite Suite – Rophé is noticeably more languorous than most of the other interpreters. At first I thought it was too slow but the playing is so poised and the instrumental details glisten that it is hard not to imagine a boat gently bopping on the sea. Indeed throughout this work there is a feeling of a relatively contained ‘chamber’ reading that is very appealing.

I notice in rereading my review of the Shui disc that I considered La Boîte à Joujoux as the longest but “most inconsequential” work on that disc. For whatever reason, this new performance has made me re-evaluate that rather dismissive assessment. Instead, the work emerges as being something altogether more substantial. The narrative of course remains slight and charming but Debussy’s handling of the musical material is fascinatingly modernist. His use of fragmentary motifs as well as Caplet’s remarkably idiomatic scoring foreshadows the sparseness and clarity of instrumental writing that would become far more common in the decades ahead. Where Rophé scores over the excellent Shui is in the remarkable delicacy and precision of the instrumental balance and the light airy elegance he brings to the score. Make no mistake, the earlier disc from Singapore is still quite beautiful but I have to say this performance is on another level. Across the work’s 30+ minute duration Rophé is a good couple of minutes swifter than Shui and I feel this does reflect the essential difference in approach; Rophé clear-headed and lean, Shui enjoying the textures and implicit beauties of the score. Away from BIS, this work has been well-served on disc but I am not sure I have ever considered this work to be as wholly impressive as I do after hearing this performance.

The theme of childhood continues and completes the disc with Caplet’s orchestration of Children’s Corner. Again Rophé’s sense of appropriate scale is spot-on aided by the undemonstratively demonstration class engineering by BIS – I listened to the SACD stereo layer. The opening Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum swirls by with just the right understated virtuosity and precision. Indeed each of the movements are perfectly achieved musical portraits with Caplet’s astute orchestration adding so much additional colour to Debussy’s finely etched originals. Throughout the disc the solo playing of the orchestra’s wind section is a particular delight – the solo oboe in The Little Shepherd a good example of the subtly sinuous and expressive style of all the principals.

If the couplings appeal this is a genuine box of delights.

Nick Barnard

Previous review: Néstor Castiglione