César Franck - Complete Songs & Duets (Tassis Christoyannis; Véronique Gens; Jeff Cohen)

Information

Composer: César Franck

CD1

1. Les cloches du soir, FWV 75
2. Nocturne, FWV 85
3. Le vase brisé, FWV 84
4. Roses et papillons, FWV 81
5. Le mariage des roses, FWV 80
6. L'émir de Bengador, FWV 72
7. Ninon, FWV 71
8. Lied, FWV 83
9. Robin Gray, FWV 74
10. S’il est un charmant gazon, FWV 78 (I)
11. S’il est un charmant gazon, FWV 78 (II)
12. Aimer, FWV 76
13. Six Duos, FWV 89: VI. La Chanson du vannier
14. Six Duos, FWV 89: I. L’Ange gardien
15. Six Duos, FWV 89: II. Aux petits enfants
16. Six Duos, FWV 89: III. La Vierge à la crèche
17. Six Duos, FWV 89: IV. Les Danses de Lormont
18. Six Duos, FWV 89: V. Soleil

CD2

1. L’ange et l’enfant, FWV 75
2. Passez ! passez toujours !, FWV 82
3. Souvenance, FWV 70
4. Pour les victimes, FWV 86
5. Paris, FWV 79
6. Patria, CFF 159
7. Les trois exilés, FWV 77
8. À cette terre où l’on ploie sa tente
9. Le sylphe, FWV 73
10. La procession, FWV 88

Tassis Christoyannis, baritone

Véronique Gens, soprano

Jeff Cohen, piano

Date: 2022

Label: Bru Zane

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Review

One of this year’s more significant musical anniversaries is the bicentenary of the birth of César Franck. Born in what became the independent country of Belgium, Franck was one of the most influential figures in French music in the second half of the 19th century. Nowadays, outside Belgium and France, even his best known orchestral works, the Symphony in D minor and the Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra, crop up in concerts far less often than they once did, though his organ works at least are still regularly performed.

There are parts of his output that remain practically unknown. Later this year, Bru Zane is planning to record Hulda, the grandest of Franck’s four operas, none of which was staged in his lifetime. But the label’s first release marking the bicentenary is a survey of his 22 songs and six vocal duets. Spanning his entire career as a composer, they are settings of a wide range of verse, from what the wonderfully comprehensive essay in the sleeve notes describes as “a poem verging on silliness written by a provincial crank” to texts by celebrated authors such as Sully Prudhomme, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas.

There may be no great songs here to rival the masterpieces of Duparc, Fauré and Debussy, but all of them are elegant and refined. With a single exception, the solo numbers are performed by Tassis Christoyannis, whose flexible baritone wraps itself tactfully around each vocal line. The odd one out is one of the two settings that Franck made 10 years apart of Hugo’s S’il est un Charmant Gazon; that is sung by Véronique Gens, who also joins Christoyannis in carefully shaded performances of the set of six duets. Altogether it’s a quietly enjoyable collection.

— Andrew Clements

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César Franck (10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. As an organist he was particularly noted for his skill in improvisation. Franck is considered by many the greatest composer of organ music after Bach. Franck exerted a significant influence on music. He helped to renew and reinvigorate chamber music and developed the use of cyclic form. He became professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872, his pupils included Vincent d'Indy, Ernest Chausson, Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, Guillaume Lekeu and Henri Duparc.

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Tassis Christoyannis (born Piraeus , 1967) is a Greek operatic baritone. He studied conducting and composing at the Athens Conservatory and singing with Aldo Protti, winning the Aldo Protti Gold Medal in 1994. Since 1989 he has been singing with the Greek National Opera, at the Athens Concert Hall and at the most prestigious theatres worldwide. In addition to operatic roles he is known for his recordings of French melodies with American pianist Jeff Cohen, primarily for the Palazzetto Bru Zane and Aparté. Since February 2024 he has been artistic director of Olympia City Music Theatre “Maria Callas”.

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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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