Roger Désormière (1898-1963) was a French conductor, admired for his work in opera, ballet and modern French repertory. He was closely associated with the musical life of Paris between the wars and after.

In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, one of the classic recorded documents of French opera.

Désormière’s conducting was lucid, refined and deeply idiomatic, with a rare understanding of French speech rhythm and orchestral atmosphere. In Debussy, that sensitivity is not decoration but oxygen.

His page deserves a proper note. Désormière made French music breathe in its own accent.