The disc opens with Claudio Abbado’s fleet and unsentimental Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, in which he emphasizes the work’s cool beauty. Nocturnes begins in a similar fashion, but the brisk and breezy Nuages, with clouds flying by as in time-lapse photography, breaks the music’s spell. Afterward, Fêtes sounds strangely enervated, with lazy rhythms, dulled colors, and muted dynamics that bleed away the music’s impact (the distant recording doesn’t help). In Sirènes Abbado at last lets the music breathe fully, with satisfying tonal amplitude and variation (thanks in no small part the contributions of the women’s chorus). In any event, this cannot match Abbado’s powerfully evocative 1970’s Boston Symphony recording (also on DG), which is a better choice, as are Boulez, Martinon, Ansermet, Ormandy, and for a really exotic rendition, Celibidache. The Berlin Philharmonic sounds strangely anemic throughout (especially in Fêtes), not at all the robust Debussy the orchestra provided for Karajan.
This Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, based on Erich Leinsdorf’s arrangement, consists primarily of the opera’s preludes and orchestral interludes. Abbado includes additional passages containing the opera’s main thematic elements. It’s mostly very quiet music (except for the dramatic Act 4 interlude) and in this setting sounds a lot like Debussy’s Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. As in his justly lauded 1992 DG recording of the complete opera, Abbado is highly attuned to the delicate shadings and intricate timbres of this brilliant score (recorded with more body and presence than the above works), even if the Berlin players do not match the voluptuous timbres of the Vienna Philharmonic. The rating reflects this part of the program.
