Honegger, Rach and Faure from Wales

[ardcarp]

Strange programming maybe...two pot-boilers preceded by Honegger's Symphonie Liturgique, surely a rarely heard piece. The only Honegger I know is the inevitable Pacific 231 and the slightly rambling Christmas Cantata. So I was keen to hear this. I was not overwhelmed. I find it difficult to buttonhole Honegger's style...perhaps I shouldn't try. It left the overwhelming impression of a film-score from which the film had unfortunately been lost. Does anyone 'get' Honeger? If so, spill all......

[Sir Monty Golfear]

Not sure I get Honegger, but I was listening to it so I could get to hear Yevgeny Sudbin play the Rachmaninov. I find sudbin very compelling listening ....he made an heroic comeback after that very unfortunate memory lapse that seemed to go on for quite a while.

[Madame Suggia]

I love Honegger

Try the Pastorale d'Été

and The second symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Munch.

[Alain Maréchal]

Does anyone 'get' Honegger? If so, spill all......

Yes! I do! He probably wrote far too much, not suffering from self-doubts, and quite a lot of it is just potboiling, but I don't understand how anybody can find the Liturgique anything but moving. Likewise the second symphony (and I think it works better if the obbligato trumpet is unobligated - it just needs a strong viola section to let the chorale shine through). I have a special fondness for the 4th, Deliciae Basiliensis - a charming and carefree finale. If you want to be terrified, La Danse des Morts (includes an orator), based on the frescoes at La Chaise-Dieu (go in summer and take the scenic train from Ambert - perhaps this should be in the Tourist Office thread).

His grave is in Montmartre village cemetery, a plain black marble slab, moving in its simplicity.

[ardcarp]

Thanks Alain M. Must give it all a try.

a.

[jayne lee wilson]

Honegger's 3rd is great symphony, one of the tragic masterpieces of the wartorn 20th century. I always think of the coda as an attempt to find some kind of peace, as a single bird calls, among the smoking ruins...

But I didn't listen tonight as this programme seemed to be designed less by a committee than a pantomime horse with the head stuck on the wrong end. As so often, too often, with Sibelius 7 (another masterpiece of white-dwarf intensity & compression) you diminish the stature of the Honegger by placing it anywhere but at the end. The final climax is - or should be - devastating, and should leave you, all passion spent, with that Dantescan vision "and that day we read no further..."

Honegger has his roots in the neo-classical but is often very highly charged emotionally, and rhythmically often complex and inventive. His 1st is something of a sighting shot, but still most engaging & highly original, and his symphonies 2-5 are masterpieces of great variety, concision, warmth and intensity. He certainly never wasted a note or repeated himself. 2 & 3 are his "War" symphonies, first truly immortalised by Karajan's famous 1969 recordings. Jansons did them very well in Oslo in 1993, but for complete cycles you have Luisi/Suisse Romande, Baudo/Czech PO, and Dutoit/BRSO. I tend (quite strongly) toward Luisi despite some surprisingly (revelatory) slow tempi and I think his 3rd is extraordinary - certainly the best- (shatteringly well-) recorded (though that opinion has caused some controversy hereabouts!) Baudo is very idiomatic throughout but the sound is a little restricted in the bigger moments. Dutoit is - as ever - accurate, neat and tidy, quite satisfying but lacking that last degree or three of intensity and drama. His Honegger isn't quite as convincing as his Roussel.

Of various single issues, there should be a place on everyone's shelf for Munch and The Lamoureux in No.4 (Erato). It has an effortlessly pastoral beauty and is simply a classic of the Gramophone... (c/w equally superior Dutilleux 2 etc). For 2&5, it's Munch again, this time with the matchless Boston SO of the mid-50s. It is mono, but of such brilliance, virtuosity & intensity that it you'll scarcely notice. If you must have stereo then his Paris Orchestra 2nd on EMI Grocs is not far behind.

With Honegger - as with much else of any depth - the more you listen the more you love. if "Classical Music" (as a style, an artform, an intellectual value) is to survive in this twittering, crisis-chattering world it needs such attentive dedication.

[mercia]

well for what little it's worth I enjoyed all of last night's concert very much, with the possible exception of the soprano soloist whose intonation I thought was slightly suspect. I've loved the Liturgique for a long time (without knowing too much of its background), with the help of the Karajan recording. AM, I can't agree that the trumpet can be omitted from Symphony 2 - that entry is such a joyous spine-tingling moment for me. I don't really know much else of Honegger's output, I must do some exploring.

[Beef Oven!]

This CD has been in my collection for many years. Glorious music.

[ardcarp]

this programme seemed to be designed less by a committee than a pantomime horse with the head stuck on the wrong end.

My thoughts exactly, but expressed so much better.

With Honegger - as with much else of any depth - the more you listen the more you love.

Wise words, jl-w. Thanks for post #5. I must try harder to fill in this woeful gap. It's always hard, on first hearing, to grasp the architecture and not get waylaid by the nuts and bolts.

[teamsaint]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B000EGDCUU/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

less than a fiver new.

[Bryn]

A rather good student performance of Le Roi David here:

But where's the double bass?

[Alain Maréchal]

AM, I can't agree that the trumpet can be omitted from Symphony 2 - that entry is such a joyous spine-tingling moment for me..

Yes, it is spine tingling, but I wonder if it is meant to be. I have seen it played without the trumpet, and two different conductors placed the trumpet behind the violas or cellos and played with the trumpet pointing down towards the floor, so that it did not ring out. I think Honegger wanted merely a strengthening of the chorale theme.

I add a recommendation for Ansermet/OSR in No 4.

[Serial_Apologist]

I seem to recall that the score to the second symphony was conveyed to the BBC in London by carrier pigeon during WW2 - would that be right?? - then to be broadcast to bring hope to the French people under occupation.

[LaurieWatt]

Jayne, where would you place Jarvi and the Danish National Radio Symphony on Chandos with No 3. I am a relative newcomer to Honegger's symphonies although I appear to have had this recording for years without having played it until recently and much liked it. Should I be embarrassed to say that I originally bought the recording for an outstanding Pacific 231 which I love!

[Bryn]

Jayne, where would you place Jarvi and the Danish National Radio Symphony on Chandos with No 3. I am a relative newcomer to Honegger's symphonies although I appear to have had this recording for years without having played it until recently and much liked it. Should I be embarrassed to say that I originally bought the recording for an outstanding Pacific 231 which I love!

I too love Pacific 231, though these days I tend to listen to Pacific 3-2-1-Zero more often.