SEASCAPES, a four-track CD by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), has been garnering rave reviews from critics internationally.

It was released in May this year under the BIS Label and the orchestra says sales have been 'encouraging' although it could not give figures.

Still, the good reviews should push up sales even more.

The August edition of BBC Music Magazine awarded the album five stars, a maximum rating. One of the tracks, La Mer, was singled out by Terry Blain as an 'unequivocally world-class performance of Debussy's masterpiece'.

Opus Haute Definition, an online French audiophile magazine, called the album 'a treasure'.

Aside from Claude Debussy's La Mer, the other sea-inspired tracks on the album are Zhou Long's The Deep, Deep Sea, Frank Bridge's The Sea and Alexander Glazunov's The Sea. Three of the four tracks were recorded at the Esplanade Concert Hall in August 2004, and the last was recorded in July 2005.

The cover picture for the album, a marine-life photograph, was shot by SSO violinist and underwater photographer William Tan, 43.

German online classical music site klassic-heute.com said of the CD: 'Three unusual works presented to the best effect, a respectable Debussy and an orchestra that needs to be heard to be fully appreciated - all this make the recording something not to be taken lightly.'

The July-August edition of the International Record Review, a magazine for the serious classical music collector, called the SSO 'highly competent', but remarked that Glazunov's The Sea was a 'racket' that 'fully deserves its neglect over the last hundred years'.

The CD has also focused attention on SSO conductor Lan Shui, 50. ClassicsToday.com, an online classical music guide, said that on La Mer, it is the 'abundance of personal touches that make it worth hearing even in a crowded field'.

The maestro told Life!: 'We have done some wonderful work in Seascapes and I feel extremely proud of the SSO. This recording is special to the SSO and Singaporeans as the sea theme reflects Singapore's status as an island state.'

Seascapes is one of 19 CDs the SSO has put out since 1997. It is sold at all good music stores. Prices vary.