MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 
REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: Crotchet


Turbulent Heart
Louis VIERNE (1870-1937)
Les Djinns Op.35 (1914) [10:43]
Eros Op.37 (1916) [12:22]
Ballade du désespéré Op.61 (1920) [16:49]
Psyché Op.33 (1914) [8:38]
Ernest CHAUSSON (1855-1899)
Poème de l’amour et de la mer (La fleur des eaux [11:15]; Interlude [2:33]; La mort de l’amour [13:49]), Op. 19 (1882-1893)
Steve Davislim (tenor)
The Queensland Orchestra/Guillaume Tourniaire
rec. 12-13, 15-16, 18 September 2008, Studio 420, Ferry Road, Brisbane.
MELBA RECORDS MR 301123 [76:32]

Experience Classicsonline

Best known for his six Symphonies for organ, the blind organist and composer Louis Vierne studied with both César Franck and Charles-Marie Widor, and was principal organist at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris from 1900 to his death in 1937 while playing at the organ console. I must admit not to knowing much about his other work, but the excellent booklet notes in this chunkily voluminous production from Melba Records describe the personal agonies which dogged Vierne’s life, and the inspiration for his vocal works. The four secular vocal works presented here are a kind of combination between orchestral song and symphonic poem, very much in a highly-charged late romantic idiom.

Les Djinns sets Victor Hugo’s poem of the same name, describing the angst-ridden aura surrounding a flight of evil spirits. There is a little of Dukas’s ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ in the build-up from dread to sheer terror, and a galloping chase which can no doubt trace some origins back to Schubert’s Erlkönig. Eros sets a section from Les blouissements by the Countess Anna de Noailles, which deals with pagan sensuality related to the more common themes of unrequited love and the fear of death. The vocal lines are surrounded by beautifully orchestrated sounds which initially conjure a kind of sultry nocturne moving into a dawn and daylight of languid heat. This extended orchestral opening and the song itself builds to a passionate climax reserved for the last minute or so of the work.

Coloured by the consequences to Vierne of the marriage of his benefactress Madeleine Richepin, Ballade du désespéré is filled with all of the turbulence its title suggests. This is a powerful expression of character and mood expressed by both a vocal part of operatic strength, and uncompromisingly expressionistic orchestral gestures. The poem, Nuits d’hiver by Henri Murger, takes the form of a dialogue between the author and a stranger who, knocking at the door, is intent on entering the house. Taking on numerous tempting identities to gain ingress, the wildness of the bangs on the door takes on the opulence and voluptuousness of fame and love, wealth, and the promise of youth. The stranger is of course none other than Death personified, and, tired of life and resigned to his release from earthly concerns, the poet and composer follow death into the void. There is a great deal of stunning music in this heartfelt and intensely dramatic work. There are some marvellous orchestral effects, such as the muted strings where the music dips into a kind of smoky gloom at 11:16. Not always one for high-romantic expression, I am truly grateful to have been introduced to this powerful piece, and agree with Jacques Tchamkerten in his notes, where he states that this is one of Vierne’s - and indeed the period’s - strongest and most moving works.

Released from all this angst and intensity, the opening of Psyché initially brings us into more lyrical and pastoral regions. From Hugo’s Chansons des rues et des bois, the poem is an extended series of questions posed by the poet to a butterfly - a psyche - which has flown into his bedroom. Plenty of existential ground is covered, but in the end, the only answer is a kiss. As with the other songs in this sequence, the influence of Wagner can be felt in the harmonies and breadth of line in the music. Vierne builds and releases tension highly effectively, and the sumptuous colours of his orchestration are beautifully crafted and superbly performed by The Queensland Orchestra. Steve Davislim’s singing is excellent throughout, with plenty of character and depth, and with well-controlled and expressive phrasing and vibrato.

A little longer than 9 seconds might have been given between Vierne and Chausson, but this is a minor point - ‘more of same’ is an arguable point of view given the all-embracing title give to this release. Ernest Chausson’s life was, by contrast with that of Vierne, untroubled by strife and suffering. Moving in cultured circles, he studied with Jules Massenet and César Franck, and is seen by musical history as something of ‘a link between Franck and Debussy.’ One of his many artistic friends was the poet Maurice Boucher, and the Poème de l’amour et de la mer uses material from his Chansons de l’amour et de la mer. The piece as a whole is constructed in two parts separated by an orchestral interlude. The general mood is of melancholy, poingant nostalgia for happier times in the past. The final section La mort de l’amour is, after an initially more optimistic section, infused with minor-key funereal gloom. The piece was originally written for tenor voice, but as with the nicely done alternative of Susan Graham on Warner Classics and Jessye Norman on Erato, is often taken by female singers. It is good to have it here restored to its original version.

This release is in every way an admirable production. Rich SACD sound embraces the listener from beginning to end, the singing is unencumbered by hystrionics and the orchestral playing is nothing less than sublime. The thick, well bound booklet which fills a chunky gatefold package includes all texts in French, English and German. For anyone interested in French romanticism and orchestral song, this is something to put on your must-have wishlist.

Dominy Clements


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.