The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder follow their recent highly acclaimed Debussy "Nocturnes" album, with a stunning
orchestral collection including a world premiere recording.

“Debussy, whose music Mark Elder and the Hallé orchestra have made something of a speciality in a series of top recordings” Stephen Pritchard, the Observer Nov 2019

Debussy took seven years to produce "Images", following the success of "La mer", and the resulting work, which was hailed by Ravel, displays the composer’s mastery in varied material which is at times strident, eschewing any hint of ‘Impressionism’ (a term he disliked), lush and evoking feelings of loss and alienation.
Pierre Boulez claimed that “modern music was awoken” by Debussy’s response to Mallarmé’s poem "L’après-midi
d’un faune" and the work, with its sumptuous opening flute line, certainly established the composer’s
credentials and has rightly become a cornerstone of orchestral repertoire.

The album features a world premiere recording of Colin Matthew’s orchestration of "Et la lune descend sur
le temple qui fut", from the 2nd Book of "Images" for piano.
This arrangement follows Matthews’ universally acclaimed orchestrations of the Debussy Préludes and of "Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon" featured inthe recent Nocturnes release.

Debussy himself arranged his piano waltz "La plus que lente", said to have been inspired by a fiddler at the New Carlton Hotel in Paris. Delicately orchestrated it is a delightful piece characterised by a constantly changing tempo.