Charles Koechlin - Vocal Works with Orchestra (Juliane Banse; Heinz Holliger)

Information

Composer: Charles Koechlin

CD1:

1. Quatre Poèmes d'Edmont Haraucourt, Op. 7: I. Clair de lune
2. Quatre Poèmes d'Edmont Haraucourt, Op. 7: II. Pleine Eau
3. Quatre Poèmes d'Edmont Haraucourt, Op. 7: III. Dame du ciel
4. Quatre Poèmes d'Edmont Haraucourt, Op. 7: IV. Au Temps des Fées
5. Deux Poèmes symphoniques, Op. 43: II. Vers la Plage lointaine (Nocturne)
6. Poèmes d'Automne, Op. 13: I. Déclin d'amour ( Sully Prudhomme)
7. Poèmes d'Automne, Op. 13: II. Les Rêves morts (Leconte de Lisle)
8. Deux Poèmes d'André Chénier, Op. 23: I. La jeune Tarentine
9. Fauré  - Chanson de Mélisande (orch. Koechlin)

CD2:

1. Trois Mélodies, Op. 17: II. La Prière du mort
2. Trois Mélodies, Op. 17: III. Épiphanie (Leconte de Lisle)
3. Études antiques, Op. 46: II. Soir au bord du lac
4. Études antiques, Op. 46: III. Le Cortège d'Amphitrite
5. Études antiques, Op. 46: IV. Épitaphe d'une jeune femme
6. Six Mélodies sur des poésies d'Albert Samain, Op. 31: I. Le Sommeil de Canope
7. Chant funèbre à la mémoire des jeunes femmes défuntes, Op. 37

Juliane Banse, soprano

SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra

Heinz Holliger, conductor

Date: 2005

Label: Hänssler Classic

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

This is just incredibly beautiful, sensual music. Although billed as “vocal works with orchestra”, conductor Heinz Holliger offers two orchestral works: the dreamy and mysterious nocturne Vers la Plage lointaine (Op. 43 No. 2), and the deliciously archaic but sophisticatedly scored Études antiques Op. 46. The concluding Chant funèbre à la mémoire des jeunes femmes défuntes Op. 37 also is a large tone poem for orchestra, organ, and chorus, in which the words are taken from the Requiem Mass and contribute atmosphere and texture more than any significant verbal meaning. This is a harrowing piece whose grinding harmonies and directness of expression at times seem miles away from the gauzy impressionism of much of Koechlin’s other work.

Koechlin wrote a large number of songs, many of which he orchestrated. Most date from early in his career–between about 1890-1910–and it’s clear from the size and richness of these settings that he was well on his way to outgrowing the simple song format. For example, the second of the Poèmes d’Automne Op. 13, “Les Rêves morts”, is a dramatic concert aria, while “Le jeune Tarentine”, the first of Deux Poèmes d’André Chénier, also is an extended setting, in this case for voice and chamber ensemble. Both pieces last more than eight minutes, and this tendency culminates in Le Sommeil de Canope Op. 31, from a set of six songs to poems by Albert Samain, a marvelous work lasting nearly a quarter of an hour.

Not all of these settings are oversized, however. Each of the Quatre Poèmes d’Edmond Haraucourt Op. 7 (the opening works in this two-disc set) are modest in length but exquisite in both orchestration and melody. The last two songs in particular, “Dame du ciel” and “Aux temps des Fées”, would bring the house down in concert, and this cycle deserves to enter the repertoire forthwith. The same holds true for the Trois Mélodies Op. 17, only two of which are included here. It’s nice to have Koechlin’s orchestration of Fauré’s Chanson de Mélisande, but his own work is so wonderful that I can only regret not hearing even more of it. Soprano Juliane Banse does a magnificent job encompassing the wide range of expression in this music, while Holliger and his orchestra deliver exceptionally well-recorded accompaniments that are fully up to the exalted standards of this superb series. A sampling of such extraordinary music can only whet the appetite for more–much more. [12/07/2005]

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/apr06/Koechlin_93159.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/apr/28/classicalmusicandopera

https://www.allmusic.com/album/koechlin-vocal-works-with-orchestra-mw0001425079

https://www.amazon.com/Vocal-Works-Orchestr-C-KOECHLIN/dp/B000B9OA2E

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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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Juliane Banse (born 10 July 1969 in Tettnang, Germany) is a German opera soprano and noted Lieder singer. She received her vocal training at the Zürich Opera, and with Brigitte Fassbaender and Daphne Evangelatos in Munich. She won first prize in the singing competition of the Kulturforum in Munich in 1989, as well as first prize in the International Franz Schubert Competition in 1993. Many of Banse's recordings have won awards, with two receiving an Echo Klassik. She has been a professor of singing at the Robert Schumann Hochschule since 2016, and at the Mozarteum Salzburg since 2020.

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

https://julianebanse.de/

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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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