Originally published on August 21
The Münchner Philharmoniker now turns its attention to the future with its first recording (from January) with Lahav Shani as Chief Conductor coupling Debussy making an impression on the cusp of the twentieth-century with Schoenberg already there (just). Faune is beautifully done, flowing yet sensitively expressive, flexible too, and rapturous, Shani not afraid to linger yet without losing the line. Pelleas, a shadowy, dramatic symphonic poem (after Maeterlinck) is carefully plotted by Shani over it’s forty-minute course for motivic development and clarity of scoring (a very large orchestra is required, yet often with intimate textures and sometimes deft rhythms, not forgetting tortured chromaticism), delving deeply into the music’s vivid characterisation and giving the weightiest climaxes full value. Pelleas has a substantial discography (including Barbirolli, Boulez, Gielen, Karajan, Mehta, Nott, and Thielemann) to which this from Munich joins with distinction. MPHIL0037 is released on September 11.