LA MER DEBUSSY • BRITTEN • MERCURE Yannick Nézet-Séguin Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal ACD2 2775 “Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted his orchestra with disconcerting ease, fully blending with it into one harmonious whole.” — Le Monde de la Musique ATMA Classique have reissued its critically acclaimed recording of La Mer : Debussy, Britten, Mercure in stereo format.   Recorded in 2007 by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain, La Mer garnered five stars from the French magazine Diapason, which declared, “What is immediately apparent in Yannick Nézet-Séguin's Debussy is its meticulousness, its almost chamber-music like transparency, and its subtle shading.”   Pierre Mercure's Kaléidoscope was also praised for its “formidably contrasted reading …Under Yannick Nézet-Séguin's baton, the work's constantly shifting emotional climate combines tragic grandeur with the most cheerful lightness.” La Mer revisits a live concert program performed by the Orchestre Métropolitain during its 2006-2007 season.   “What genius Britten shows in his four interludes from the opera Peter Grimes. […] Nézet-Séguin recreates the exact context of each scene portrayed, from the depths of the ocean to the sky-shaking tempest. […] The young conductor ends with Debussy's La Mer, […] a very impressive performance, sometimes lyric, sometimes livid, always detailed.” (La Presse) “It was pure delight to hear Pierre Mercure's Kaléidoscope played with such emotion.” (The Gazette) • In 2020, Yannick Nézet-Séguin succeeds James Levine to become the third Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. • Nézet-Séguin is the Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a post he assumed in September 2012. He is also Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal. • Since Yannick Nézet-Séguin assumed the role of the artistic director in 2000, the Orchestre Métropolitain's reputation for passion and its drive for excellence have continued to grow — at home and abroad. CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) La Mer     [ 24:26 ] Trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre (1905) 1. De l'aube à midi sur la mer | Très lent     [ 9:16 ] 2. Jeux de vagues | Allegro     [ 6:46 ] 3. Dialogue du vent et de la mer | Animé et tumultueux     [ 8:24 ] BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976) Four Sea Interludes (op.33a) (1945)     [ 17:13 ] 4. Dawn     [ 3:50 ] 5. Sunday Morning     [ 3:46 ] 6. Moonlight     [ 4:57 ] 7. Storm     [ 4:40 ] PIERRE MERCURE (1927-1966) 8. Kaléidoscope (1948)     [ 10:53 ] CLAUDE DEBUSSY 9. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)     [ 11:16 ]     MARIE-ANDRÉE BENNY, FLÛTE | FLUTE ATMA Classique is distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading PO Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone +61 (0)3 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile +61 (0)3 9444 6879