The death of Guido Cantelli in an air crash at the age of 36 in 1956 was one of the most crucial losses in post-war musical life. In a career lasting just 13 years he made his way right to the top of his profession, although at the end of his life he was still developing and maturing, and would surely have been one of the most important artists of our time. Fortunately he made a number of superlative recordings over a period of seven years and this disc, which contains all his Debussy shows clearly why concert audiences in the 1950s were bowled over by him.
It is a pity that he never conducted all three Nocturnes, for ''Nuages'' flows beautifully and expressively and he chooses just the right tempo for ''Fetes''. He does not press this piece too hard as most conductors do, and its colour and piquant personality thus flower freshly and easily. L'apres-midi is also given plenty of room to breathe: the playing cool, elegant, beautifully poised, yet very eloquent.
In La mer Cantelli avoids the ham-fisted, over-dramatic approach of so many conductors, and instead we have a performance with clear, gleaming textures. The first movement ebbs and flows in a movingly poetic fashion: every detail makes its effect and everything is perfectly in scale. The middle movement is taken quite briskly, but phrasing is hypersensitive and appropriately fluid. In the last movement there is plenty of drama and excitement, although climaxes are kept within bounds in a way which paradoxically makes for a greater effect than if they were given Brucknerian proportions, as they often are.
During Cantelli's lifetime Le martyre de Saint Sebastien was strangely regarded as a tired, feeble work, yet he conducted the 'Symphonic fragments' quite frequently. His approach is very much of the concert hall in that he gives the four pieces a life of their own rather than relating them to the unfolding drama. Nevertheless, he still captures the music's peculiarly fervent, religious-cum-exotic flavour very effectively. The Philharmonia play with extraordinary subtlety throughout the programme, and the 1954–5 recordings sound very well indeed.'