Debussy: La mer | Bernard Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Multi-award-winning conductor Bernard Haitink leads the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. They perform Claude Debussy’s ’La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre,’ known simply as ’La mer.’ Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) wrote this composition of ’three symphonic sketches’ between 1903 and 1905. Upon its premiere in Paris in October 1905, it was not well-received, provoking confusion and dismay among both audience and critics. But after performances in the United States and Britain, it was performed again in Paris in 1908, and then quickly became one of Debussy’s most famous and admired orchestral works. Along with Debussy’s ’Nocturnes,’ ’La mer’ exemplifies musical Impressionism and serves as a transition between the Romantic and modern eras. Bernard Haitink began his conducting career with Netherlands Radio: he became chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in 1957. Later he was principal conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and held this position for 27 years. Today he is patron of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Honorary Conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Bernard Haitink has also been Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Chief Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is an honorary member of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and since 2019, the Vienna Philharmonic. He has received numerous prizes and awards, including the Gramophone Lifetime Achievement Award. (00:49) 1. De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From dawn to noon on the sea) (09:55) 2. Jeux de vagues (Play of the waves) (16:39) 3. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue between wind and waves) Watch more concerts in your personal concert hall: Subscribe to DW Classical Music: #Debussy #LaMer #ConcertgebouwOrchestra #BernardHaitink