Debussy La Mer: favourite recordings

[Pulcinella]

Baudo, Boulez (both Sony and DG), Giulini, Haitink, and Martinon on the shelves here (together with a BBCNOW/Otaka BBC MM CD); must confess to them not being taken off that often (though I've recently listened to the Boulez DG, having just acquired it!) as the piece seems to feature enough in broadcasts to keep me happy.
Will be interested to read what Gramophone says/thinks.
The 2009 Penguin Guide rates many versions highly (giving them the key symbol), but rosettes go to Haitink and one I don't think has been mentioned yet: a live BPO/Rattle recording.
PS: Rosette also awarded to Giulini.

[cloughie]

I've never heard a second Ormandy - though I did see a video (sic) of him conducting the work - and yes to Toscanini, I don't know the others - and didn't know that St Erich had recorded it ... that's a quick trip to Amazon on the cards!

The Leinsdorf with the LAPO was on an old Capitol LP coupled with Daphnis Suite 2 and on CD with Death &Transfiguration added. Deleted so not cheap now but a good disc - I’ll give it a spin later today!

[BBMmk2]

I have Haitink's and Pierre Boulez's. Both very satisfying.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Leinsdorf with the LAPO was on an old Capitol LP coupled with Daphnis Suite 2 and on CD with Death &Transfiguration added. Deleted so not cheap now but a good disc - I’ll give it a spin later today!

There is an Amazon MP3 available (£1.79 for all three movements) which will suffice until the LONG overdue Leinsdorf box is released.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The 2009 Penguin Guide rates many versions highly (giving them the key symbol), but rosettes go to Haitink and one I don't think has been mentioned yet: a live BPO/Rattle recording.

Interesting - the Penguins used to give a Rosette to the analogue DG Karajan (whilst also inferring, incorrectly, that that recording didn't include the brass fanfares towards the end of the finale. It was that inaccuracy - repeated in subsequent editions - that first made me suspicious of the credibility of the Guide).

I like those fanfares, btw - without them, I can't help feeling that somebody's missed their cue.

[mathias broucek]

Interesting - the Penguins used to give a Rosette to the analogue DG Karajan (whilst also inferring, incorrectly, that that recording didn't include the brass fanfares towards the end of the finale. It was that inaccuracy - repeated in subsequent editions - that first made me suspicious of the credibility of the Guide).

I like those fanfares, btw - without them, I can't help feeling that somebody's missed their cue.

I too struggle without the brass fanfares. I read somewhere that Toscanini sings them in one of his recordings!

[cloughie]

There is an Amazon MP3 available (£1.79 for all three movements) which will suffice until the LONG overdue Leinsdorf box is released.

The Ormandys were on CBS in the 60s and RCA in the 70s.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Ormandys were on CBS in the 60s and RCA in the 70s.

I have the CBS (on a double cassette!) - I didn't know about the RCA.

I think that the video I saw is now available (differently coupled) on DVD; a performance from 1977:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holst-Planets-Debussy-Mer-DVD/dp/B0012L2KC2

[Bryn]

I have the CBS (on a double cassette!) - I didn't know about the RCA.

I think that the video I saw is now available (differently coupled) on DVD; a performance from 1977:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holst-Plane.../dp/B0012L2KC2

Worth a punt at £7.57 including p&p. (Cheaper "New" than "Used".)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Worth a punt at £7.57 including p&p. (Cheaper "New" than "Used".)

IIRC, the film spends a lot of time on Ormandy - who isn't as "visually entertaining" as some other filmed conductors of the period - which isn't exactly inspiring. Good performance, though. (Can't speak for the Holst, as I don't remember ever watching/hearingit.)

[Pulcinella]

Interesting - the Penguins used to give a Rosette to the analogue DG Karajan (whilst also inferring, incorrectly, that that recording didn't include the brass fanfares towards the end of the finale. It was that inaccuracy - repeated in subsequent editions - that first made me suspicious of the credibility of the Guide).

I like those fanfares, btw - without them, I can't help feeling that somebody's missed their cue.

Missed out a rosette: also given to Giulini.
Original post amended.

[Bryn]

IIRC, the film spends a lot of time on Ormandy - who isn't as "visually entertaining" as some other filmed conductors of the period - which isn't exactly inspiring. Good performance, though. (Can't speak for the Holst, as I don't remember ever watching/hearingit.)

Well, I did make a point of checking that the audio was available in PCM stereo, not just lossy Dolby Digital or DTS.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

- and it occurs to me that I might appreciate the minimalist theatre of Ormandy's conducting much more these days than I did thirty years ago.

[silvestrione]

Ah yes, Silvestri with the PCO...there's also a BBC disc of him doing it with his Bournemouth orchestra (mono, unfortunately). Both good, atmospheric. I first heard the work conducted by Silvestri in the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, in my late teens, and walked down for a stroll on the beach in the dark afterwards, listening to the waves, before cycling the 5 miles home! I remember it as overwhelming and thrilling (the music I mean!).

[Stanfordian]

Pierre Boulez - The Cleveland Orchestra - DG

Ernest Ansermet - L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande - Decca

Herbert von Karajan - Berliner Philharmoniker - DG (1964)