Ernest Chausson - Poème de l'amour et de la mer; Symphony (Véronique Gens; Alexandre Bloch)

Information

Composer: Ernest Chausson

• Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19
• Symphony in B flat major, Op. 20

Véronique Gens, soprano

Orchestre National de Lille

Alexandre Bloch, conductor

Date: 2019

Label: Alpha

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Review

A work that tends to bring out the best in the singers who have tackled it, Poème de l’amour et de la mer has always fared well on disc. Distinguished exponents include Victoria de los Ángeles, Janet Baker, Montserrat Caballé and Susan Graham, among others, and Véronique Gens now adds her name to the list with a performance that ranks, unquestionably, among the finest to date. Superbly sung, and wonderfully well conducted and played by Alexandre Bloch and his Lille orchestra, this is an interpretation of great beauty and insight.

Gens’s dark tone and her ability to fuse sound with sense allow her both to encompass the work’s rapturous lyricism and to map out the psychological subtlety of its depiction of the painful end of an affair, viewed against the backdrop of the immutable cycles of nature. Every word of Maurice Buchor’s rather ornate text is given clarity and meaning without fracturing the vocal line. The oscillating emotions, as hope gives way first to anxiety, then to despair, are more searchingly conveyed here than in any other version I know, while the closing ‘Le temps des lilas’ brings with it both a deep, contained sadness and a disquieting air of irrevocable finality. Keenly alert both to the complexities of orchestral detail and to the inner propulsion of the score, Bloch is with her every step of the way. He carefully stresses the work’s pivotal nature, gazing back towards Wagner yet pre-empting La mer, and also reminds us of the often startling originality of its form, part dramatic monologue, part song-cycle, though in some respects it remains unclassifiable.

Its companion piece is the Symphony in B flat, much criticised for its overt debt to Wagner, particularly its slow movement, which is closely modelled on the Act 3 Tristan Prelude. The greater and more subtle influence here, however, derives from Franckian cyclic form, which dictates the meticulously crafted structure, and the musical argument is laid out with perfect clarity in Bloch’s performance without losing sight of the work’s direct intensity of emotional expression or the headiness of Chausson’s orchestration. The playing is rich, both in sound and detail, the brass warm and burnished, the woodwind elegant and refined, while the recording, like that of Poème, is both spacious and exactingly balanced. It’s an outstanding disc, and highly recommended.

— Tim Ashley

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Ernest Chausson (20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a prominent late-19th-century French composer. After completing a law degree, he studied composition at the Paris Conservatory under Jules Massenet and César Franck. Influenced by the operas of Richard Wagner, Chausson developed a richly chromatic yet characteristically French musical style. He also supported younger composers such as Claude Debussy while serving the Société Nationale de Musique. His notable works include Poème, Symphony in B-flat Major, and the opera Le Roi Arthus, which incorporated Wagnerian leitmotifs and his own libretto.

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Véronique Gens (born 19 April 1966) is a French operatic soprano. Born in Orléans, she studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and had her debut in 1986 with William Christie and his Les Arts Florissants. While she started out as a Baroque specialist, Gens has also come into demand for roles in Mozart operas, and as an interpreter of songs by Berlioz, Debussy, Fauré and others. Her numerous recordings (more than 90 CDs and DVDs) include many works by Mozart and Purcell, as well as Joseph Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne and Berlioz's Nuits d'été, and have received several international awards.

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Alexandre Bloch (born 1985) is a French conductor. Educated at the conservatories of Tours, Orléans, Lille, and the Paris Conservatory, he gained international attention after winning the Donatella Flick Competition in 2012. Bloch has guest conducted leading orchestras across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. From 2016 to 2024, he served as Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lille, where he expanded audiences through adventurous repertoire, contemporary music initiatives, and creative concert formats. He has also conducted major opera productions in Munich, Berlin, Lyon and Düsseldorf.

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