Debussy: Images, Jeux, La plus que lente —San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas (SFS Media 69)
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is spending some time in Northeast Ohio this summer, and in honor of his visit, WCLV is featuring this 2016 release by the San Francisco Symphony. “Right from the start of my musical life,” MTT said of this program, “Debussy’s music captivated me. He had a genius for sensing the essential quality of a particular instrument’s voice and creating for it evocative solos that have become emblematic. His sense of unusual blends of different instruments was also original and highly demanding. In fact, his orchestral music, especially the later orchestral works like those on this album, presents some of the greatest challenges in the whole repertory for both conductor and instrumentalists. It has been a pleasure to perform this music with the San Francisco Symphony, whose members possess all the artistry and are more than willing to take the risks that this music demands.”