Honegger Dvd9

The artistry of Holliger (b1939) prompted Evelyn Rothwell (Lady Barbirolli) to call him 'The Paganini of the oboe' Holliger's mastery of the oboe ranges over a vast expanse of repertoire, from the baroque to contemporary – Bach to Berio and Zelenka to Zimmermann. His style is notable for its flexibility, agility, integrity and ability to communicate convincingly across the wide range of repertoire he performs. Holliger has done much to champion the oboe music of composers such as Zelenka and Krommer, and has also had over 100 works composed for him by composers including Berio, Carter, Henze, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Penderecki and Stockhausen.

In the first three symphonies, Honegger's seriousness is communicated through rhythmically propelled melodies, biting dissonances, and vigorous counterpoint, and his block-like orchestration is calculated more for impact than for nuance. Honegger alternates between muscular developments and searching meditations, and the combative Symphony No. 1 and the uneasy Symphony No. 2 effectively play off these contrasts. A reverent tone dominates the Symphony No. 3, for orchestra, "Liturgique," but its religious feeling is born of doubt and conflict, as conveyed in the work's brutal episodes. This disc restores to the catalog the fine recordings made by Michel Plasson and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse from 1977 to 1979, digitally mastered in 1992.

This disc makes for a satisfying programme. I agree with its title, too, for although reference books often call Honegger Swiss he was born in Le Havre, became a pupil of d'Indy in Paris, was one of Les Six and died in the French capital. His Cello Concerto is a small work both in style and content, pastorally Gallic in feeling and with a bouncy second section and finale to its single-movement form. This is unfamiliar repertory, well written for the cello, that earns its place in the catalogue.

True to the motto “Stay curious,” Audax Records offers a second excursion through the catalog of Greek-born composer Hélène Covatti and her husband Robert Dussaut. After an album devoted to the songs of the couple (ADX13722 with Adriana González and Iñaki Encina Oyón), here the Brüggen-Plank duo presents their works for violin and piano, some of them in premiere recordings. With extensive experience in the twentieth-century repertoire, Marie Radauer-Plank and Henrike Brüggen approach this music with flair and an impressive palette of colours and complete the album with works by composers close to the couple in Paris during the inter-war period.

It is good that there is a recording of Honegger's charming Christmas cantata with French-speaking soloists that does full justice to the work. It was the last completed work for baritone, choir and organ in 1953. In fact, it certainly deserves greater fame outside France. The recording was made in Lisbon and was later remastered by Cascavelle. We hear very beautiful, and in the case of the Danse des morts from 1938/40 (for speaker, soprano, baritone, choir and orchestra), even very concise renditions.

The Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra here performs works by Frank Martin, Arthur Honegger and Othmar Schoeck. This follows a series of discs from Poltéra that were dedicated to these three composers. His disc of Frank Martin’s music (BISCD1637) was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice.

Arthur Honegger's 1935 composition Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) is a rather curious work: an oratorio for adult choir, children's choirs, singers, and several speakers, including one portraying Joan herself. It is like a hybrid of oratorio, melodrama, and film music, which was a fundamental influence on Honegger's style during this period, and it is immensely enjoyable if performed by confident and enthusiastic forces.

Honegger was an eclectic composer whose achievement is well reflected in this stimulating compilation. Dutoit’s recording of the oratorio King David is particularly compelling: on hearing it one understands why the composer frequently returned to the formula of narrator, soloists, chorus and orchestra.

Though their national heritages differed as widely as their musical backgrounds and mature musical language, contemporaries Martinu, Hindemith, and Honegger each turned their backs on the highly popular and influential serial movement and blazed their own paths.

Trois chefs-d’oeuvre, dont deux quasi inconnus, interprétés de surcroît par deux interprètes épatants, la fine et véhémente Valérie Aimard et le toujours poétique Cédric Tiberghien : …un disque réellement indispensable.