Orchestre National de Lyon . Jun Märkl

The Orchestre National de Lyon specialises in its national symphonic heritage. Under the present head conductor Jun Märkl, the company has made sublime CD recordings of the entire orchestral works of Claude Debussy. Last year 'les Lyonnais' embarked cautiously on the symphonic oeuvres of Ravel and Messiaen. In deSingel too, the orchestra will hoist the 'Tricolore' (national flag) by presenting the works of the three major French colourists. Byron's 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' inspired Berlioz' 'Harold in Italy': the composer assigned the character a melancholic viola voice and crafted his travels in a brilliantly instrumented sound world. Hector Berlioz conjured up Italian local life from his eclectic palette of sound colours, then the masters of musical watercolour, Debussy and Ravel, were let loose to add their impressionistic sea views. In 'La Mer' no particular story is told, nature is not evoked, but the sound texture itself is pure nature. Far more ironic and humane is 'Une Barque sur l'Océan' by Maurice Ravel. The piece is the result of a masterly orchestration of a piano work of his own, composed after a painting with the same title by his friend Paul Sordes.