Victor Hugo in Music | Harmonia Mundi - Musique d'Abord HMA1951997

Victor Hugo in Music

Label: Harmonia Mundi - Musique d'Abord

Cat No: HMA1951997

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Vocal/Choral

Release Date: 19th February 2016

Contents

About

"This exceptional recital by bass-baritone Konstantin Wolff and pianist Trung Sam chronicles the attempts of francophone song composers to grapple with Hugo's poetry both during and after his lifetime... Hugo clearly inspired most composers to give of their best, as well as to stray, on occasion, into unfamiliar territory: Saint-Saëns is represented by a clutch of unknown songs that should be repertory pieces, and Fauré gets uncharacteristically angry over the political implications of 'L'Absent'. Lalo, as one might expect, turns Hugo into an impishly blatant eroticist, while Reynaldo Hahn is altogether more fin de siècle and discreet... Wolff, who otherwise sings with a virile, articulate elegance that is absolutely right both for the music and for Hugo's poetry. As an accompanist, Sam is spectacular, but never intrusive." - Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 13 February 2009

“a lovely disc in which Wolff proves himself worthy of comparison with the past great baritone interpreters of the mélodie.”
- Gramophone, February 2009

“a deeply pleasurable recording” - International Record Review, February 2009

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