Release Date: 01 January 2005
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313227426
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: BERLIOZ
Description
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899): Po?¿me de l'amour et de la merPaul Dukas (1865-1935): La periHector Berlioz (1803-1869): Les nuits d'eteBrought up in cultured adult surroundings, ErnestChausson acquired wide artistic interests. He wasinduced by his family to study and qualify as a lawyer,although he never practised as an advocate, insteadturning his attention to music. He joined Massenet'sclass in orchestration at the Conservatoire in 1879, whileinformally attending the influential classes of CesarFranck. Failure to win the Prix de Rome in 1881 led himto discontinue formal instruction, while the influence ofWagner exercised a further influence on his work as acomposer. With a private income, he was able to lead alife that allowed travel, and association with leadingwriters, musicians and artists of the time, after hismarriage in 1882 and honeymoon at Bayreuth. He diedin 1899 as the result of a cycling accident.Chausson's Po?¿me de l'amour et de la mer (Poemof Love and of the Sea) was written during the yearsfrom 1882 to 1890 and revised in 1893. It is a dramaticsetting of poems by Maurice Bouchor, whose verses hadprovided texts for a number of songs by Chausson,including a group of translations by Bouchor fromShakespeare. The work opens with La fleur des eaux(The flower of the waters), with music that reflects thetranquil romantic mood of the poem, the air filled by thescent of lilacs. The music mounts to a rhapsodic climax,before tranquillity intervenes, and the strings introducethe simplicity of Et mon coeur s'est leve par ce matind'ete. A transition leads to a slower passage, Quel sonlamentable et sauvage, as the mood changes, reaching afurther climax, before a rhapsodic conclusion. TheInterlude is marked Lent et triste (Slow and sad),opening with a bassoon melody, continued briefly by asolo cello, before the mood lightens, to end, as it began,in C minor. La mort de l'amour (The Death of Love) isfirst marked Vif et joyeux (Lively and joyful), as thesinger greets the approach to the island. This leads, withpassing ecstasy, to a passage marked Sombre etsolennel, now in G minor, the memory of love nowdead. The movement ends with Le temps des lilas (Thetime of lilacs), a section to be published separately,mourning for the death of love.A friend of Debussy and pupil of Bizet's friendGuiraud, Paul Dukas came very near to winning theimportant Prix de Rome, but left the Paris Conservatoireto embark on an early career as a critic and orchestrator.His acute critical sense led him to destroy many of hisown compositions, but he remained an important figurein French musical life and a highly respected teacher. Heis popularly known for his symphonic scherzo afterGoethe, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, choreographed as aballet in 1916 in Petrograd by Fokine.La peri (The Fairy), a po?¿me danse, was written in1911 and 1912, choreographed by the Russian dancerIvan Clustine, ballet-master at the Paris Opera, before hejoined Pavlova's company in 1914. The work wasdedicat
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yang Zheng; Xinxin Song; ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Gottfried Rabl
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
Robert Trent
