Milhaud - L’Orestie d’Eschyle | CD | Naxos

Part of the great French musical tradition and a member of Les Six, Darius Milhaud was an important avant-garde figure in early 20th century Paris.

The Oresteia of Aeschylus trilogy arose from his lifelong interest in Greek mythology and drama, inspired by the expressive, syncopated rhythms of Paul Claudel’s poetic texts. In addition to innovative rhythmic elements, the trilogy exhibits complex harmonic techniques, particularly polytonality, which Milhaud believed gave him more varied ways of expressing sweetness in addition to violence.

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The Europadisc Review

Darius Milhaud was only in his early twenties when, in 1913, he embarked on what would become one of his most ambitious projects: a setting of Aeschylus’s celebrated Greek trilogy The Oresteia in the translation by French poet and dramatist Paul Claudel. In fact, the only portion he set of the first play, Agamemnon, was a scene between the Chorus and Clytemnestra following the latter’s murder of her husband, King Agamemnon. At a mere eleven minutes in length, it’s already a remarkably atmospheric setting, with an inexorable, funereal tread, already anticipating the choral style of the group of twentieth-century French composers known as Les Six.

When Milhaud was rejected for military service on medical grounds, it enabled him to devote more time to subsequent works in the trilogy. His contributions to the second play, Les Choéphores (The Libation Bearers) date from 1915, and consist of seven tableaux, ranging from just a minute or two to almost a quarter of an hour. They cover events surrounding Orestes’ return to avenge his father, and Milhaud’s music is both evocative and innovatory. He uses polytonality (the simultaneous sounding of chords from two or more different keys) to intensify the music’s harmonic expressivity. But beyond that, it’s his use of rhythmicised speech, a chorus that’s required to whistle, groan and shriek, and a vast array of percussion, that makes the biggest impression. Try the ‘Omens’ (disc 1 track 5) to hear these effects in practice; or, contrastingly, the hauntingly atmospheric ‘Libation’ (track 3) for solo soprano and unaccompanied chorus.

The music for Agamemnon and Les Choéphores takes up just one of the three discs: Milhaud’s setting of the closing drama, The Eumenides, telling of Orestes’ flight from the Furies and his trial and eventual acquittal before Athena, is of truly operatic dimensions. Work on this final part of the drama occupied Milhaud from 1917 to 1922, and it’s the most ambitiously scored of all the works, with an enlarged orchestra now also including four saxophones and four saxhorns. The music itself is among the most challenging that Milhaud ever wrote, and it conveys the depth of the drama at every turn, right up to the exultant closing processional: if this doesn’t make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, nothing will.

This new release from Naxos is the first complete recording of this music, and it’s both fascinating and powerful. Performed by huge – and hugely accomplished – forces from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and conducted with immense authority by Kenneth Kiesler, it should be urgently sought out by anyone with an interest in French music of the early twentieth century. Soloists including soprano Lori Phillips as Clytemnestra, mezzo-soprano Kristin Eder as Electra, and baritone Dan Kempson as Orestes all make their mark, but it’s the sheer commitment of the combined choral and orchestral forces that makes these discs so special.

The recording itself originates from a live performance to mark the centenary of the recording venue, the University’s famous Hill Auditorium. But it could equally mark the centenary of the inception of Milhaud’s work on the trilogy, or indeed the world conflict which, one senses, is never far from the foreground in this version of Aeschylus’s timeless tragedy.

With extensive booklet notes and credits, and a full online libretto and translation, this splendid achievement can’t be recommended highly enough.

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1

Agamemnon, op.14
2

Les choephores, op.24 - Vociferation funebre
3

Les choephores, op.24 - Libation
4

Les choephores, op.24 - Exhortation
5

Les choephores, op.24 - La Justice et La Lumiere
6

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 1 - Premierement...
7

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 1 - Je ne trahirai pas...
8

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 2 - Le voici donc...
9

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 2 - Autour, tout autour...
10

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 2 - Dame Athena
11

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 3 - Ouverture
12

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 3 - Crie, crieur...
13

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 3 - Io, jeunes dieux
14

Les eumenides, op.41 - Act 3 - Toutes celles...
15

Les eumenides, op.41 - A cause du bien...

Darius Milhaud was only in his early twenties when, in 1913, he embarked on what would become one of his most ambitious projects: a setting of Aeschylus’s celebrated Greek trilogy The Oresteia in the translation by French poet and dramatist Paul Claudel. In fact, the only portion he set of the first play, Agamemnon, was a scene between the Chorus and Clytemnestra following the latter’s murder of her husband, King Agamemnon. At a mere eleven minutes in length, it’s already a remarkably atmospheric setting, with an inexorable, funereal tread, already anticipating the choral style of the group of twentieth-century French composers known as Les Six.

When Milhaud was rejected for military service on medical grounds, it enabled him to devote more time to subsequent works in the trilogy. His contributions to the second play, Les Choéphores (The Libation Bearers) date from 1915, and consist of seven tableaux, ranging from just a minute or two to almost a quarter of an hour. They cover events surrounding Orestes’ return to avenge his father, and Milhaud’s music is both evocative and innovatory. He uses polytonality (the simultaneous sounding of chords from two or more different keys) to intensify the music’s harmonic expressivity. But beyond that, it’s his use of rhythmicised speech, a chorus that’s required to whistle, groan and shriek, and a vast array of percussion, that makes the biggest impression. Try the ‘Omens’ (disc 1 track 5) to hear these effects in practice; or, contrastingly, the hauntingly atmospheric ‘Libation’ (track 3) for solo soprano and unaccompanied chorus.

The music for Agamemnon and Les Choéphores takes up just one of the three discs: Milhaud’s setting of the closing drama, The Eumenides, telling of Orestes’ flight from the Furies and his trial and eventual acquittal before Athena, is of truly operatic dimensions. Work on this final part of the drama occupied Milhaud from 1917 to 1922, and it’s the most ambitiously scored of all the works, with an enlarged orchestra now also including four saxophones and four saxhorns. The music itself is among the most challenging that Milhaud ever wrote, and it conveys the depth of the drama at every turn, right up to the exultant closing processional: if this doesn’t make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, nothing will.

This new release from Naxos is the first complete recording of this music, and it’s both fascinating and powerful. Performed by huge – and hugely accomplished – forces from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and conducted with immense authority by Kenneth Kiesler, it should be urgently sought out by anyone with an interest in French music of the early twentieth century. Soloists including soprano Lori Phillips as Clytemnestra, mezzo-soprano Kristin Eder as Electra, and baritone Dan Kempson as Orestes all make their mark, but it’s the sheer commitment of the combined choral and orchestral forces that makes these discs so special.

The recording itself originates from a live performance to mark the centenary of the recording venue, the University’s famous Hill Auditorium. But it could equally mark the centenary of the inception of Milhaud’s work on the trilogy, or indeed the world conflict which, one senses, is never far from the foreground in this version of Aeschylus’s timeless tragedy.

With extensive booklet notes and credits, and a full online libretto and translation, this splendid achievement can’t be recommended highly enough.

Milhaud - L’Orestie d’Eschyle

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