“This is the centenary of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” premiere and its famous riot in Paris, but there is another Diaghilev ballet of the exact same vintage that sounds just as revolutionary today, though nowhere nearly as familiar.
The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra performed it Monday night: Debussy’s “Jeux.”
(…) the clarity and confidence of the playing came as a revelation in this music. The performances not only wandered the mysterious ways of “Jeux” but also brought out the sheer originality and even idiosyncrasy of “La Mer,” a work often taken for granted by orchestras and audiences alike.
(…) With Denève’s French sensibility and generous spirit toward his players, “La Mer” emerged not as misty washes and masses of sound, but as a work of modernist daring.”