Concertgebouworkest Essentials: Debussy's La mer

Concertgebouw Orchestra Essentials

Essentials is specially designed for those with little or no experience with symphonic music. Discover must-hear masterpieces, performed by the Concertgebouw Orchestra and creatively introduced by Thomas Vanderveken. At Essentials, we welcome a new generation of music lovers, and there is a pleasantly informal atmosphere.

Debussy's La mer

La mer is a colorful and loving portrait of the many facets of the sea, from the shimmering of the rising sun to a playful dialogue between the wind and the waves. With this triptych, Claude Debussy elevated orchestral composition to a whole new level in 1905. Forty years later, Benjamin Britten's dark opera, Peter Grimes , emerged, set in a fishing village that strongly resembles Britten's hometown of Aldeburgh. In the opera's instrumental pieces, the unfathomably deep North Sea reflects the beautiful, but also the grimmer, corners of the soul.

Essentials begins at 21:00 with a stimulating introduction to the program.