Debussy: The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, L. 124

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian was written by the Italian symbolist poet Gabriele d'Annunzio in 1910. The mystery play about Saint Sebastian with its religious or esoteric-pseudo-religious and erotic content exerted great attraction on the composer Claude Debussy. He set it to music a year later for the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein. It was first performed in Paris at the Theatre du Châtelet on May 22, 1911. The work is a beautiful hybrid of an oratorio, ballet, and drama with a choir, soloists, and speaking roles. As with Richard Wagner's "Parsifal," Debussy was also very impressed by this poem with its similar pagan and Christian elements. We present the work on this album as a concert oratorio in a radio version in German. In the studio production from 1952, you can hear the young voices of the famous German actors Will Quadflieg and Bernard Minetti in the speaking roles. Ernest Ansermet, the ingenious Swiss conductor, was a specialist in the music of French impressionism. Here he presents a musically incomparably beautiful interpretation with the Cologne Radio Orchestra and a magnificent ensemble of excellent singers.