鈥淚 have slandered the sea鈥� wrote Claude Debussy. 鈥淭oday it is beautiful enough to defy all comparisons鈥�. Yet 100 years after his death in 1918, Debussy鈥檚 'La Mer' is surely the most poetic seascape ever painted for an orchestra, the work of a composer whose quiet genius turned music into an art of limitless expressive subtlety. This centenary celebration opens with Nocturnes 鈥� Impressionist paintings, transformed into ravishing sound 鈥� and includes the 'Pr茅lude' whose unprecedented sensuality scandalised Belle 脡poque Paris. But there鈥檚 darkness as well as light: Thomas Dausgaard joins Joaqu铆n Ach煤carro in the brooding concerto that Debussy鈥檚 compatriot Ravel created for a pianist who鈥檇 lost an arm in the Great War.
Pre-concert talk at 6.45pm (in the main auditorium): Thomas Dausgaard, the 成人论坛 SSO's Chief Conductor, and pianist Joaqu铆n Ach煤carro discuss tonight's concert and their musical passions (free to ticket holders).