1. Decide, Calme, Anime
2. Sicilienne
3. Grave
4. Tres anime

Jascha Heifetz – violin
Jesus Maria Sanroma – piano
Musical Art Quartet

This rich, warm-sounding, melodic example of late French Romanticism practically defies categorization. Although Chausson called it a concerto (concert, in French), this composition for six players is certainly not that. "Sextet" would be wrong, because that name implies some equality among the players, missing here. The best description would be "duet (or concerto) for violin and piano with string quartet accompaniment." Chausson called the two main instruments "projections against the quartet background." For long stretches of the piece, virtually all the musical interest is in these two instruments; the other strings only occasionally respond.

Stytlistically it is clear that Chausson seeks to avoid the spell that Richard Wagner (1813-1883) cast over late nineteenth century French music. He still uses the rich chromatic harmonies and the passionate melodic style that had come into French music in the 1870s and 1880s. But his textures and use of chords suggest an effort to find a non-Wagnerian sound through a deliberate archaism. One device he uses is parallel octaves in the part writing, which suggests old church chant. Another is the consistent use of the plagal cadence (the "church" or "amen" ending) instead of the ordinary type. These almost subconscious religious associations give the music the desired antique quality. In addition, Chausson frequently uses special effects such as arpeggios, trills, and tremolos.

The first movement is based on a three-note motive introduced at the start by the piano. A main theme grows from it. A speedup in tempo leads to one of the several unaccompanied duets for violin and piano in the work. Instead of classical-style development, Chausson offers a further flow of rich melody.

The second movement is in the old Baroque Sicilienne dance rhythm, with a light, restrained, and graceful mood. The violin has two fine themes. The third movement is a somber piece in slow tempo, featuring another section for the two main instruments without the quartet. This one is brooding and distracted in mood. The finale is in the bouncing triple-time gigue rhythm, but has the driving character of a toccata. Despite the rhythmic emphasis, Chausson introduces yet another rich and expressive melody, this time given to piano, as a contrast to the predominantly forward-moving melody.

Chausson dedicated the work to the famous Belgian violin virtuoso Eugène Ysaÿe, evidently in hopes that this would prompt him to play it. In fact, Ysaÿe did play the first performance, in Brussels in 1892, as the soloist, with pianist Auguste Pierret and members of the Ysaÿe Quartet. Upon finishing his creation, Chausson remarked: "Another failure!" Posterity vigorously disagrees. ---Joseph Stevenson, Rovi

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1. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 1: Melodrame - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
2. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 1: Melodrame Et Chor: 'Sur Toi Veillent Les Fils Du Ciel' - Chor De Femmes De Radio France
3. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 1: Hymne Liturgique De St. Michel - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
4. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 1: Melodrame - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
5. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 1: Melodrame - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow			play
6. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 1: Chor Et Melodrame: 'Entends Nos Voix' - Chor De Femmes De Radio France
7. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 2: Cantique De Cecile: 'Que D'etoiles Dans Vos Cheveux' - Isabelle Vernet/Paul Boufil
8. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 2: Musique De Scene (Entree De Cecile) - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
9. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 2: Musique De Scene (Sortie De Cecile Et Valerien) - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
10. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 3: Prld Et Chor: 'O Vierge, Ta Gloire Est Prochaine' - Chor De Femmes De Radio France
11. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 3: Chor: 'O Douloureuse Fiancee' - Chor De Femmes De Radio France
12. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 3: Melodrame Et Chor: 'Nous Te Deposerons Intacte Aux Pieds... - Chor De Femmes De Radio France
13. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 3: Melodrame, Chor Et Musique De Scene: 'Silence, Maudit' - Chor De Femmes De Radio France
14. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 3: Musique De Scene - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
15. La Legende De St. Cecile, Op.22: Act 3: Scene Finale - Apparition De St. Cecile: 'Un Souffle... - Isabelle Vernet/Paul Boufil

Sainte Cécile - Isabelle Vernet
Choeur de Femmes de Radio France

16. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 1: Chant D'Ariel: 'Sur Le Sable D'or' - Laurence Dale
17. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 1: Chant D'Ariel - Adagio: 'Ton Pere Git A Cinq Brasses Profondes' - Laurence Dale
18. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 2: Melodrame - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
19. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 2: Chanson De Stephano: 'Trois Mat'los, Et Puis Moi' - Francois Le Roux
20. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 2: Chanson De Caliban: 'C'est Fini Pour Moi De Scier Les Buches' - Jean-Philippe Lafont
21. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 3: Air - Clara Novakova/Philippe Labadie
22. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 3: Air De Danse - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
23. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 3: [Intermede] - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
24. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 4: Scene Des Deesses: Melodrame - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
25. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 4: Scene Des Deesses: Entree Et Duo: 'Honneurs, Richesses... - Marie-Ange Todorovitch/Rephaelle Farman
26. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 4: Scene Des Deesses: Danse De Nymphes Et Des Moissonneurs - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
27. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 4: [Intermede] - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
28. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 4: Solo De Cor - Daniel Catalanotti
29. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 5: [Intermede] - Ens Orchestral De Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
30. La Tempete, Op.18: Act 5: Chanson D'Ariel: 'Avec L'abeille Je Butine' - Laurence Dale				play

Ariel - Laurende Dale
Cérès - Raphaëlle Farman
Junon - Marie-Ange Todorovitch
Stephano - François de Roux
Caliban - Jean-Philippe Lafont

Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Jean-Jacques Kantorow - director, 1995

I am always on the lookout for what I call "heartfelt" music -- beautiful music that truly touches the heart and, through the heart, the spirit. Chausson's Incidental Music for "La Legende de Sainte Cecile" is simply heavenly. Lush, lyrical, peaceful, at times, sombre orchestral passages, punctuated by sweet angelic choruses. There are two beautiful solos, nicely performed by soprano, Raphaelle Farman, which reminds us that Chausson was an exceptional composer of songs. The music is very French, reminiscent of Saint Saens, Berlioz and Liszt. I am particularly reminded of the "Gretchen" movement of Liszt's Faust Symphony.

"La Tempete" is, as one might expect, is slightly more dramatic and down to earth but the music is equally lush and romantic. The duet, "Honneurs, richnesses, longue vie" rivals anything I've heard by Berlioz or Gounod.

The Orchestral de Paris, directed by Jean-Jacques Kantorow renders a superb performance and the sound quality is excellent. A rare find indeed! --- Timothy O'Hanlon, amazon.com

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1. La Fleur Des Eaux
2. Interlude
3. La Morte de l’Amour
+
4. Le Temps de Lillas

Irma Kolassi, mezzo-soprano
The London Philharmonic Orchestra
Louis de Froment – conductor

The Poème de l'amour et de la mer Op. 19, is a song cycle for voice and orchestra. It was composed over an extended period between 1882 and 1892 and dedicated to Henri Duparc.

The Poème consists of two parts separated by an orchestral interlude, based on the poems La Fleur des eaux (The Flower of the Waters) and La Mort de l'amour (The Death of Love) by Chausson's friend Maurice Bouchor (1855–1929). Bouchor also provided the lyrics for another fifteen mélodies by Chausson. One such song was Le Temps des lilas (The Time of Lilacs), the last four verses of which Chausson transcribed and incorporated into the ending of the second part of the Poème.

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Acte I
1-1 	Prélude 	3:22
	- Tableau I
1-2 	Scène 1 	18:39
	- Tableau II
1-3 	Scène 2 	3:44
1-4 	Scène 3 	9:41
1-5 	Scène 4 	5:41
	Acte II
2-1 	Prélude 	3:45
	- Tableau I
2-2 	Scène 1 	2:07
2-3 	Scène 2 	6:08
2-4 	Scène 3 	26:30
	- Tableau II
2-5 	Scène 4 	6:50
2-6 	Scène 5 	10:30
2-7 	Scène 6 	2:15
	Acte III
3-1 	Prélude 	2:38
	- Tableau I
3-2 	Scène 1 	5:32
3-3 	Scène 2 	13:26
3-4 	Scène 3 	12:09
	- Tableau II
3-5 	Scène 4 	3:03
3-6 	Scène 5 	13:01
3-7 	Scène 6 	12:34

Arthus - Gino Quilico (baritone)
Guenièvre - Teresa Zylis-Gara (soprano)
Lancelot - Gösta Winbergh (tenor)
Lyonnel - Gérard Friedmann (tenor)
Merlin - Gilles Cachemaille (baritone)
Mordred - René Massis (baritone)
Allan - François Loup (baritone)
Un laboureur - Thierry Dran (tenor)
Un chevalier - René Schirrer (baritone)
Un écuyer - Alexander Laitter (tenor)
Soldat 1 & 2 - Michel Focquenoy (tenor)
Soldat 3 - Francis Dudziak (baritone)
Soldat 4 - René Schirrer (baritone)

Chœurs de Radio France
Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique
Armin Jordan - conductor

This comparatively rare opera has received very few recordings over the years and this is its only recent incarnation albeit dating back to 1986, almost a quarter of a century ago. It has aged well with the mesmeric and passionate conducting of the Swiss, Armin Jordan very much in harmony with Chausson's Wagnerian music.

King Arthur obviously makes an intriguing setting for any opera and the arias and ensembles are extremely enjoyable to listen to. It is a fine work which deserves resurrection on CD although the libretto and sumptuous booklet which made up the former Erato set are long gone. Otherwise a real snip at such a price. ---Gerald Fenech, classical.net

Le Roi Arthus, Chausson’s only completed opera, took the composer 10 years to write and was not premiered until four years after his death. He feared Wagner’s influence for a while, then Debussy’s. In fact, he didn’t escape; his opera’s chromaticism and orchestration–the dark string writing, massed brass, and bass clarinets, for example–show clear influences of Wagner. Indeed, even the plot, focusing on the part of the Arthurian legend involved with the illicit affair between Guinevere and Lancelot and the King’s idealism and resignation in the face of such treason, is more than a bit reminiscent of Tristan. There is a love duet for Lancelot and Guinevere that’s interrupted by a warning from Lancelot’s Squire, à la Brangaene, that dawn is approaching; the “Tristan chord” appears more than once. All that’s missing are Leitmotifs to complete the Wagnerian homage, and there are arguably a couple of them as well. Careful listening will bring others to mind, as in the first scene’s almost exact quotes from Massenet’s Esclarmonde (Chausson studied under Massenet).

But Chausson, it turns out, is Chausson and not a sum of everyone else’s parts; after a while the influences take a back seat and something new and powerful is created. You can’t help but be impressed–or notice that the libretto, also by Chausson, does not take the same view of the deceiving lovers as does Tristan: the clear hero in Le Roi Arthus is the title character. The lovers’ almost maniacally passionate exchanges may fire the emotions, but Arthur remains lofty, and he is the figure to care for in this opera.

This is not the work’s first recording: Erato released a fine performance under Armin Jordan in the late ’80s, starring Gino Quilico, Gosta Winbergh, and Teresa Zylis-Gara, and it remains the recording of choice. Quilico, a light baritone, sang Arthur with grand focus of purpose and impeccable diction; Zylis-Gara was the soul of both seduction and womanliness and her tone was beautiful. Winbergh yelled more than he ought to have as Lancelot, and his French pronunciation was noticeably bad, but he was passionate.

In this new recording, tenor Simon O’Neill also has some problems with Lancelot’s cruel tessitura and sustained need for big volume, but he inflects better and gives us a fine portrait as the crazy-in-love, full-of-remorse knight. Susan Bullock’s soprano is no match for Zylis-Gara’s as Guinevere. Not only is it unsteady and essentially unlovely, but she sounds too matronly. This helps only in her denunciation of Lancelot in their second-act duet, which is very potent, and in her more selfish moments. In short, she lacks allure. Andrew Schroeder, though possibly wanting Quilico’s elegance of line and principle, gets better as the opera progresses, and his splendid, big baritone fills the role by Act 3.

In lesser roles, François Le Roux sings Merlin’s music with gravity and Garret Sorenson brings lovely tone to the role of Lionel, Lancelot’s squire. The same can be said for Andrew Kennedy as a Plowman, who sings a Berlioz-like offstage song in the second act. The veteran Donald McIntyre sings the role of Guinevere’s old squire, and indeed, he sounds old.

The BBC Symphony is a better group than Jordan’s Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique, and it does the rich-textured score absolute justice. Leon Botstein leads the performance with tempos in the first two acts slower than Jordan’s, and not to any particular advantage; however, he and the engineers give us a crystal-clear view of the music. The choral work is glorious–the women’s chorus in the last act provides one of the score’s most transcendent moments, and the Apollo Voices are simply otherworldly. If you can’t locate the Erato recording, this present one will certainly give you a fine feel for this unique work–but Jordan’s Zylis-Gara and Quilico embody their roles in a way that their counterparts do not. ---Robert Levine, classicstoday.com

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