Arthur Honegger - Le Roi David (Michel Piquemal)

Information

Composer: Arthur Honegger

• Le Roi David

Jacques Martin; Christine Fersen

Danielle Borst; Marie-Ange Todorovitch

Gilles Ragon; Clara Guedj

Chœur régional Vittoria d'Île-de-France

Orchestre de la Cité

Michel Piquemal, conductor

Date: 1999

Label: Naxos

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Review

Conductor Michel Piquemal opts for the rarely recorded original version of Honegger’s “symphonic psalm,” which calls for a small ensemble of piano, winds, brass, and percussion. This works well given the quality of the performance, which is “amateurish” in the best sense, meaning that what it lacks in polish, it makes up for in enthusiasm. Actually, the piece itself is not difficult to perform: there’s lots of narration after all, and most of the musical numbers are quite short and simple in construction. Christine Fersen intones an effective Witch of Endor, and the other soloists are adequate to the generally modest demands made on them. The single exception is tenor Gilles Ragon, whose wobbly crooning hardly suits the proud author of the Psalms. Nevertheless, with Serge Baudo’s recording of Honegger’s expanded version of the work (for Supraphon) currently unavailable, Abravanel’s similarly first rate Utah recording often difficult to find (Vanguard), and with an excellent booklet including full texts and translations, this disc offers an inexpensive, enjoyable look at the work that put its composer on the musical map. The sonics are also aptly atmospheric.

-- David Hurwitz

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Arthur Honegger (10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who spent most of his life in France. He studied at the Zürich Conservatory and after 1912 at the Paris Conservatory. After World War I he was associated with a group of young composers known as "Les Six". Honegger was a prolific composer and made notable contributions to opera, ballet, orchestral, choral, chamber and film music. His music is written in a bold and uninhibited musical idiom that combines the harmonic innovations of the French avant-garde with the large forms and massed sonorities of the German tradition.

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Michel Piquemal (born 15 April 1947) is a French conductor. He studied at the Boulogne Conservatory and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, as well as with Pierre Bernac and Denise Duval. In 1978 he founded his own choral group, the Ensemble Vocal Michel Piquemal. From 1985 to 1994, he taught at the Conservatoire de Paris. His discography is rich and diversified, and he always seek to discover or rediscover works from the repertoire of forgotten classical music. He has recorded both as a baritone and with his various formations. Piquemal has also been invited to conduct many national and international orchestras.

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