Though Debussy was known to transcribe his own works in piano reductions ranging from Prélude à L’après-midi d’un faune to his opera Pelléas et Mélisande, others who attempt to refashion his music for other instruments are asking for trouble. So often in Debussy the basic idea and its manifestation in sound are so intertwined that a change of instrumentation can mean a radical shift in the piece’s meaning. But this enterprising disc, with both new and original versions of Debussy’s chamber works, suggests that transcriptions are worth a try in this Debussy anniversary year, when one inevitably looks for new insights in the composer’s many familiar works.

‘Fêtes’ from Nocturnes begins the disc in a Joachin Jousse arrangement for trumpet and piano and it’s thrilling, with the nimble, driving rhythms of the original piece lending themselves well to the clean articulation of the two instruments. But when trumpeter Eric Aubier plays the solo flute work Syrinx – written to characterise the god Pan grieving for the loss of Syrinx – Debussy gets lost. The piece becomes more urban and modern, almost like the trumpet solo in Aaron Copland’s Quiet City, suggesting Edward Hopper-esque alienation rather than a god in crisis. Debussy’s Cello Sonata also suffers, mildly, in a version where harp replaces piano: the similarities of the two instruments sap the dynamic tension usually heard between cello and piano. One especially misses the piano’s ominous bass notes that aren’t possible with harp.

Performances, though, make this disc a positive acquisition. Typical of this label, the performers are drawn from the ranks of world-class orchestras, in this case the Orchestre de Paris and Berlin Philharmonic, aided by the strong keyboard personalities of Emmanuel Strosser and Claire Désert. Berlin’s harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet, a pervasive presence on the disc, never retreats into mere prettiness and brings an almost argumentative intensity to the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp. The lesser works here, including the Rhapsodies for clarinet and piano, are played with resourceful seriousness. Less fortunately, Vincent Lucas’s emotional restraint in the original flute version of Syrinx is strangely disappointing.