Charles Koechlin - Les Heures persanes (Heinz Holliger)

Information

Composer: Charles Koechlin

• Les Heures persanes, Op. 65 (Version orchestrale)

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra

Heinz Holliger, conductor

Date: 2006

Label: Hänssler Classic

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 8

The Persian Hours is a suite of 16 short movements that exists both as a piano cycle and in this orchestral guise. It’s a very special, atmospheric work, mostly very slow and dreamy, and except for three or four movements (À travers les rues; the mini-tone-poem Le Conteur; and the final Dervishes dans la nuit) is often extremely quiet. The orchestration is incredibly delicate and subtle, and it’s entirely typical of Koechlin that although the piece is harmonically extremely audacious for its time (1913-19), the music is so subdued that you might not be aware of its frequent polytonal or atonal basis. In short, this is a very remarkable piece, but not one for casual listening.

It’s also a terribly difficult work to record, and on the whole Heinz Holliger does a much better job than Leif Segerstam for Marco Polo. In the first place, Holliger has the better orchestra, but more importantly he knocks about 10 minutes off the timing of the entire cycle. Segerstam is entirely too static; Holliger manages to convey stillness without stasis, and that is the key that makes listening to the whole thing at a sitting possible (should you be so inclined). Pity the engineers, though. The dynamic range here is almost too wide, with soft bits incredibly quiet, making the few loud outbursts a bit too noisy. It’s very good sound, as might be expected from the SWR team, but not quite ideal for the work. Still, if you’re in the market for The Persian Hours, this is the way to go.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Apr06/Koechlin_heures_93125.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jun/23/classicalmusicandopera.shopping2

https://www.allmusic.com/album/charles-koechlin-les-heures-persanes-mw0001428642

https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Koechlin-Heures-persanes-op/dp/B000EQICCI

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Charles Koechlin (27 November 1867 – 31 December 1950) was a French composer, teacher and musicologist. Among his teachers at the Paris Conservatoire were Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel and Jean Roger-Ducasse. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars (especially Lilian Harvey and Ginger Rogers), traveling, stereoscopic photography and socialism. As a composer, Koechlin was enormously prolific, and was highly eclectic in inspiration and technique.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Koechlin

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Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland and studied at the conservatory of Bern. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classical pieces, but he has regularly engaged in lesser known pieces of Romantic music, as well as his own compositions. As a composer, Holliger has written many works in a variety of media. Many of his works have been recorded for the ECM label.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Holliger

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