C. Debussy Debussy: Images/Prelude a l'Apres-Midi d'un Faune/La Mer

This is the Debussy disc to buy if you're buying only one. All of the best and most popular orchestra music is here (the second of the "Images" is the well-known tone poem "Iberia"). Salonen must have the keenest ear in the business--no "impressionist" fuzz here. Musical textures are extraordinarily clear, but never at the expense of the music's natural sensuality. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has been playing at the very highest technical level ever since Esa-Pekka Salonen took over, and Sony has been documenting their work in top-quality sound. There are a lot of Debussy recordings, many of them very good, but it's hard to beat the all-around excellence of this one. --David Hurwitz