Composer of the Week: Debussy: The Sea

Donald Macleod explores a traumatic period in Debussy's life when Parisian society, and many of his close friends, turned against the composer for abandoning his wife in virtual poverty to run off with a woman of the world, the rich wife of a banker, Emma Bardac. The works he wrote during these first few years of the 20th century reflect both his state of mind and his environment. Debussy: Masques. Steven Osborne (piano). Estampes. Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano). Trois Chansons de France. Sarah Walker (mezzo), Roger Vignoles (piano). L'Isle Joyeuse. Ulster Orchestra, conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier. Reflets dans l'eau (Images). Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano). Dialogue du vent et de la mer (La Mer). New Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor Pierre Boulez