César Franck: Hulda Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Chœur de Chambre de Namur & Gergely Madaras

• César Franck (1822 - 1890): Hulda, FWV 49, Act I:
• 1Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act I: Prélude et Scène. Voici que le soleil décline04:13
• 2Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act I: Scène et Prière. Hulda ! Ma fille bien-aimée !03:35
• 3Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act I: Scène avec chœur. Écoute !...04:01
• 4Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act I: Finale. Nous sommes vainqueurs01:57
• 5Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act I: Finale (suite). Victoire ! Hurrah ! Tout est soumis !04:01
• Hulda, FWV 49, Act II:
• 6Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Chanson de l’hermine. Hermines qui glissez lentement02:46
• 7Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Scène. Ah ! Maudite soit la journée03:16
• 8Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Scène. Quel est ce bruit ?01:39
• 9Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Arioso et Scène. Mes enfants03:27
• 10Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Air. Deux ans sont écoulés09:17
• 11Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Chœur. C’est un double hyménée !04:21
• 12Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Scène. Merci de vos souhaits, amis03:25
• 13Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Combat. Dans nos forêts et sur les eaux04:10
• 14Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Scène. Souvenez-vous, le prix est donné de ma main !01:57
• 15Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act II: Finale - Chœur funèbre. Grands Dieux ! Ah ! Mon fils !04:57
• Hulda, FWV 49, Act III:
• 16Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act III: Entracte pastoral03:35
• 17Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act III: Scène. Entre les bras d’Eiolf tu l’as vue, ici même ?02:37
• 18Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act III: Arioso. Heure chérie04:30
• 19Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act III: Duo. C’est lui ! J’entends ses pas !06:16
• 20Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act III: Duo (suite). Divine extase05:16
• 21Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act III: Scène finale. Qui donc est là ?02:57
• Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV:
• 22Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Chœur. Ah ! Voici notre reine04:29
• 23Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Marche royale et Chœur. Salut, ô rayonnants époux03:38
• 24Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Ballet allégorique. I. Lutte de l’Hiver et du Printemps03:09
• 25Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Ballet allégorique. II. Danse de l’Hiver03:45
• 26Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Ballet allégorique. III. Danse des Elfes02:26
• 27Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Ballet allégorique. IV. Danse et Chœur des Ondines. Blessé d’abord par la lumière05:01
• 28Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Ballet allégorique. V. Ronde générale03:28
• 29Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Scène. Au château de nos rois, le festin vous appelle02:10
• 30Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Scène. Tout me blesse !05:28
• 31Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Scène. Souviens-toi de celle qui t’aime02:06
• 32Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Duo. Hélas !03:18
• 33Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Duo (suite). C’est mon amour !02:49
• 34Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Trio. Ah ! Sur ton sein je me repose !02:43
• 35Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Scène. Haine des anciens jours01:52
• 36Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Scène et Quatuor. Soyez les bienvenus !04:39
• 37Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Act IV: Scène et Reprise du chœur. La violence de ma haine02:16
• Hulda, FWV 49, Épilogue:
• 38Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Épilogue: Prélude05:48
• 39Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Épilogue: Chœur. Le lac sourit, les voiles blanches04:38
• 40Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Épilogue: Scène. Ils s’en vont en chantant le bonheur02:20
• 41Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Épilogue: Scène. Voici donc l’heure de se venger !03:33
• 42Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Épilogue: Scène. Ton heure est arrivée02:21
• 43Franck: Hulda, FWV 49, Épilogue: Scène finale. Notre maître n’est plus !...03:34
• Total Runtime02:37:44

Info for César Franck: Hulda

The injustices of history are made to be redressed. Here a cast of international singers, under the dynamic direction of Gergely Madaras, devotes itself with conviction to the task of reviving one of the forgotten glories of French Romantic opera. Hulda, completed in 1885, was never staged in César Franck's lifetime. This gory medieval legend recounts the multiple acts of vengeance its heroine inflicts on the Aslak clan, which slaughtered her family, and on her unfaithful lover Eiolf. The ferocious performance of American soprano Jennifer Holloway in the title role is matched by the sinister presentiments of her French colleague Véronique Gens and the tender outbursts of Dutch soprano Judith van Wanroij. Although the imaginary Norwegian setting brings Wagner to mind, Franck continues the tradition of French grand-opéra while adopting the contemporary Verdian idiom. The intensity of the action is reflected in harmonic and instrumental experiments that place Franck in the forefront of the modernists of his time. The inventiveness of the ballet is matched only by the splendour of the choral writing. How could such a masterpiece have languished in oblivion for so long? Quite simply, because it was deliberately buried by Franck's pupils, who preferred to keep for themselves the glory of personifying the French operatic revival.

Veronique Gens, soprano (Gudrun)
Jennifer Holloway, mezzo-soprano (Hulda)
Judith van Wanroij, soprano (Swanhilde)
Marie Gautrot, mezzo-soprano (Halgerde)
Marie Karall, mezzo-soprano (la Mère de Hulda)
Ludivine Gombert, soprano (Thordis)
Edgaras Montvidas, tenor (Eiolf)
Sébastien Droy, tenor (Eynar)
Artavazd Sargsyan, tenor (Eyric)
Guilhem Worms, baritone (Thrond)
Chœur de chambre de Namur
Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege
Gergely Madaras, conductor

Gergely Madara
is Music Director of Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. Having taken up the position in September 2019, they are enjoying a fruitful relationship with numerous series in Liège and Bozar Brussels, regular broadcasts on Mezzo TV, Medici TV and RTBF, and a growing recording catalogue for Alpha Classics, Cyprés and Nomad Play labels. Gergely stepped down as Music Director of the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne in 2019 and as Chief Conductor of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra in his native Hungary in 2020, having held both positions for 6 years.

Having forged strong professional relationships throughout Europe, Gergely regularly appears as a guest conductor with orchestras including the BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Hallé, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Filarmonica della Scala, Maggio Muiscale Fiorentino, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Hungarian National Philharmonic and Hungarian Radio orchestras, the Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen, Luxembourg philharmonic orchestras as well as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Münchener Kammerorchester and Academy of Ancient Music. Further afield, he has appeared with the Melbourne, Queensland and Houston Symphony orchestras.

Future highlights include Gergely’s debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Hamburger Symphoniker, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. This season he returns to Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Hungarian National Philharmonic orchestras, among others.

While grounded in the core classical and romantic repertoire, he maintains a close relationship with new music. He has collaborated with composers George Benjamin, Péter Eötvös, György Kurtág, Tristan Murail, Luca Francesconi, Philippe Booesmans and Pierre Boulez, for whom he served as assistant conductor at the Lucerne Festival Academy between 2011-2013.

Gergely has also established a fine reputation as an opera conductor. Between 2012-14 he was the inaugural Sir Charles Mackerras Fellow at the English National Opera, which culminated in his operatic debut at the London Coliseum with a new production of Magic Flute with stage director Simon McBurney. Since then, he has conducted highly praised productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Otello, La Traviata, La Bohème and Lucia di Lammermoor at such houses as the Dutch National Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève (with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande) and Hungarian State Opera, among others. Prompted by a keen interest in re-discovering rarely performed works, Gergely has also conducted productions of Goldmark’s Ein Wintermärchen, Grieg’s Peer Gynt, Barber’s Vanessa, Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma and Offenbach’s Fantasio. Upcoming invitations include La Monnaie de Munt in Brussels.

Gergely is a regular guest at major music festivals. He opened the 2018 Miliano Musica Festival at La Scala and has appeared at Lucerne, Gstaad, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Septembre Musical Montreux, MiTo Settembre Musica, Budapest Spring Festival, Bucharest Enescu Festival and Tokyo Stradivarius Festival.

Born in Budapest in 1984, Gergely first began studying folk music with the last generation of authentic Hungarian Gipsy and peasant musicians at the age of five. He then went on to study classical flute, violin and composition, graduating from the flute faculty of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, as well as the conducting faculty of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where he studied with Mark Stringer.

Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège
Founded in 1960, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (OPRL) is the only professional symphony orchestra in French-speaking Belgium.

Supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the City of Liège and the Province of Liège, the OPRL performs in Liège, in the prestigious setting of the Salle Philharmonique (1887), throughout the country (in Brussels, Charleroi, Namur, Ostend, Saint-Hubert, Saint-Vith, Tournai, Turnhout, Val-Dieu... ), in major European venues and festivals (Amsterdam, Paris, Besançon, Vienna, Spain, Switzerland...), as well as in Japan, the United States and South America (tour in 2022).

Under the impetus of its founder Fernand Quinet and its Music Directors (Manuel Rosenthal, Paul Strauss, Pierre Bartholomée, Louis Langrée, Pascal Rophé, François-Xavier Roth, Christian Arming), the OPRL has forged a sound identity at the crossroads of Germanic and French traditions. This work will be continued by Gergely Madaras from September 2019. In addition to a strong commitment to supporting creative work, promoting Franco-Belgian heritage and exploring new repertoires, the OPRL has a strong recording policy, with over 110 recordings to its name.

Its current recordings include Franck's complete symphonies and Les Béatitudes (Fuga Libera), Franck's opera Hulda (Palazzetto Bru Zane), Respighi (BIS), the Symphonies of Saint-Saëns (BIS), Abbey Road Rhapsody (Alpha), the complete symphonies of Ernő Dohnányi (Alpha Classics) and an album devoted to Claude Ledoux (Kairos).

For 20 years, OPRL has been committed to offering the best music to as many people as possible, through original formulas (Music Factory, Family Sundays, Happy Hour!, OPRL+) and dedicated series (Early Music, World Music, Piano 5 étoiles, Organ). Since 2016, it has enjoyed a partnership with the TV channel Mezzo Live HD (Europe, Asia, Canada) and, since 2021, with Medici.tv. In 2022, it will celebrate the bicentenary of César Franck (born in Liège), with a series of concerts, several boxed discs, new releases and digital projects.

The OPRL is also committed to its civic role throughout the year, reaching out to audiences who are less familiar with classical culture. It targets young people in particular, through events in schools, themed concerts (including L'Orchestre à la portée des enfants) and above all, since 2015, by setting up neighbourhood orchestras with the ReMuA association (El Sistema Liège). In a spirit of participation, OPRL musicians have been involved since 2016 in the design of two concert series (Happy Hour! and Musique à midi) and an original educational project (PeDaHop).

Booklet for César Franck: Hulda