Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer & Symphonie Op. 20 Véronique Gens, Orchestre National de Lille & Alexandre Bloch

• Ernest Chausson (1855 - 1899): Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19:
• 1 Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19: I. La fleur des eaux 10:03
• 2 Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19: Interlude 02:17
• 3 Poème de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19: II. La mort de l'amour 11:56
• Symphonie en Si Bémol Majeur, Op. 20:
• 4 Symphonie en Si Bémol Majeur, Op. 20: I. Lent - Allegro vivo 12:34
• 5 Symphonie en Si Bémol Majeur, Op. 20: II. Très lent 08:56
• 6 Symphonie en Si Bémol Majeur, Op. 20: III. Animé 14:19
• Total Runtime 01:00:05

Info for Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer & Symphonie Op. 20

Ernest Chausson is a most unusual figure in French music, positioned at the crossroads where the romanticism of Berlioz and Franck meet the language of Wagner and the symbolism of the young Debussy. His Poème de l’amour et de la mer is a unique score for the period and certainly his greatest work; simultaneously a profane, naturistic cantata, a monologue, and a song cycle, it was composed between 1882 and 1892.

Véronique Gens is recording this cycle for the first time, although she has already issued ‘Le temps des lilas’ with Susan Manoff at the piano for her disc Néère (ALPHA 215), about which Ernst Van Bek wrote in Classiquenews: « it mesmerises with the nuancing of its colours, the allusive precision of every sung word ». Véronique Gens’ talent is equally on display in this recording too, with the Orchestre National de Lille – an orchestra she already knows well – under Alexandre Bloch, its new chief conductor, whose appointment and first concerts and recordings have already caused a sensation... The Symphony in B flat major completes this programme: a summit of French symphonic writing, for some a milestone as important as the Symphony in D of Chausson’s teacher César Franck!

Veronique Gens, soprano
Orchestre National de Lille
Alexandre Bloch, conductor

Véronique Gens
After shining over the baroque stage for over a decade, Véronique Gens has achieved a strong international reputation and is now considered one of the best Mozart singers. One of her most prominent roles, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni staged by Peter Brook and conducted by Claudio Abbado at the Aix-en-Provence Festival earned her worldwide recognition.

In 1999, she was chosen Lyrical Performer of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique.

Her repertoire includes the greatest Mozart parts (Donna Elvira, Contessa Almaviva, Vitellia, Fiordiligi…), famous roles from lyrical tragedies (Iphigénie en Tauride, Iphigénie en Aulide, Alceste…) as well as later ones such as Alice Ford (Falstaff), Eva (Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des Carmélites), Hélène (La Belle Hélène), Missia Palmeri (Die lustige Witwe).

In addition to her wide-ranging classical repertoire, Véronique Gens gives numerous concerts and French melodies recitals all over the world, notably in Paris, Amsterdam, Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, London, Tanglewood, Beijing, Stockholm, Moscow, Geneva or Edimburgh.

She has performed on the most prestigious stages in the world: Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Paris National Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, La Monnaie in Brussels, Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid, Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam as well as at the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg and Glyndebourne.

Véronique Gens thus had the opportunity to sing under the baton of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Alain Altinoglu, Bertrand de Billy, Ivor Bolton, Jonathan Cohen, William Christie, Myung-Whun Chung, Charles Dutoit, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Marek Janowski, Philippe Jordan, Louis Langrée, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Sir Neville Marriner, Marc Minkowski, Jérémie Rhorer, Christophe Rousset, Daniele Rustioni…and to collaborate with renowned stage directors like Pierre Audi, Calixto Bieito, Peter Brook, Willy Decker, Jurgen Flimm, Claus Guth, Michael Haneke, Christof Loy, Olivier Py, Graham Vick, Krzysztof Warlikowski…

More recently, she sang in Alceste at the Wiener Staatsoper and at the Paris National Opera, La Belle Hélène at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Don Giovanni in Amsterdam and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, La clemenza di Tito in Dresden and at the Wiener Staatsoper, Falstaff at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Iphigénie en Tauride and Die lustige Witwe at the Paris National Opera, Dialogues des Carmélites in Paris, Caen and at La Monnaie in Brussels, Faust in an original concert version revisited by Christophe Rousset at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées… In concert, she sang melodies by Henri Duparc with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer by Ernest Chausson with the Orchestre National de Lille and with the Mitteldeutscher Sinfonieorchester, Les Indes Galantes in Budapest, Kassya by Léo Delibes at Radio France Festival in Montpellier, La Voix humaine at the Atelier Lyrique in Tourcoing, La Reine de Chypre at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, La Nonne sanglante by Berlioz at the Festival CôteSaint-André, Les Nuits d’été with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Shéhérazade by Maurice Ravel under the baton of Daniele Rustioni in Lyon…

Her noteworthy projects include Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Les Troyens (Hécube) and Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Giulietta) at the Paris Opera, Dialogues des Carmélites (Madame Lidoine) at the Liceu in Barcelona, Maître Péronilla (Leona) in concert version and L’incoronazione di Poppea (Ottavia) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, La Voix humaine directed by Christian Schiaretti at the Théâtre National Populaire of Villeurbanne, Scylla et Glaucus (Circé) by Jean-Marie Leclair in San Francisco and at the Opéra Royal de Versailles… In concert, she will sing Fidelio (Leonore) with La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, Armide in Brussels, Metz and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, melodies by Berlioz with the Orchestre de Picardie, Shéhérazade in Rouen and then in Oslo with Vassily Petrenko, the Wesendonck Lieder with the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe, La Mort de Cléopâtre with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, the Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo… She will also give numerous recitals in Oxford, Brussels, Paris, Strasbourg…

Her many recordings (over 80 CDs and DVDs) have received several international awards. Néère, her record devoted to French melodies, has won a Gramophone Award in 2016. Visions received an International Classic Music Awards as well as a International Opera Awards in 2018.

Véronique Gens has been promoted to the rank of Chevalier in the French order of Légion d’Honneur as well as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

Booklet for Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer & Symphonie Op. 20