Harmonia Mundi: Debussy - Sonate pour flûte, alto et harpe - Philippe Bernold - Audio CD

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Label: Harmonia Mundi (hmGold series)
• Catalog Number: HMG 501647
• Composer: Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
• Principal Artists: Philippe Bernold (flute), Gérard Caussé (alto), Isabelle Moretti (harp), Ariane Jacob (piano & celesta), Mathieu Dufour (flute II), Germaine Lorenzini (harp II), Irène Jacob (récitante)
• Genre: Classical / Chamber Music
• Original Recording: 1998
• Release (this edition): 2012
• Publisher: Harmonia Mundi s.a., Mas de Vert, 13200 Arles
• Barcode (UPC): 3149020164716
• Condition: Factory Sealed

Product Features

• Format: Single CD (standard jewel case)
• Total Playing Time: 50:02
• Series: hmGold
• Made in Italy
• LC: 7045
• Language: French (titles and booklet), English synopsis included

Overview

Debussy wrote relatively little for the flute, but what he did write ranks among the most distinctive music in the chamber repertoire. This Harmonia Mundi recording brings together the three works that define that legacy - the late Sonata for flute, viola and harp (1915), the solo piece Syrinx (1913), and the complete Chansons de Bilitis (1901) - and frames them within their original theatrical and literary contexts.

Philippe Bernold is one of the foremost French flutists of his generation, and the ensemble assembled here is exceptional. Gérard Caussé on viola and Isabelle Moretti on harp complete the trio for the Sonata - three players at the absolute top of the French chamber music world. The Chansons de Bilitis is performed with a small instrumental ensemble and recitante Irène Jacob (César Award-winning actress), recreating as closely as possible the original 1901 performance setting that Debussy himself supervised.

The Sonata is Debussy's final completed chamber work. Written in the shadow of World War I and his own declining health, it has a lucid, almost otherworldly refinement - nothing wasted, nothing overstated. Syrinx, for unaccompanied flute, lasts barely three minutes and yet manages to feel complete in a way that longer pieces never quite achieve. The Chansons de Bilitis settings, based on Pierre Louÿs's prose poems, are intimate and atmospherically precise.

The hmGold reissue (2012) of the 1998 recording presents the audio in clean, focused sound that suits the delicate textures of this repertoire perfectly.

Interesting Facts

• Debussy's Sonata for flute, viola and harp (1915) was originally planned as the first of six chamber sonatas; he completed only three before his death in 1918.
• Syrinx was composed in 1913 as incidental music for Gabriel Mourey's play Psyché and was not published until 1927, nine years after Debussy's death.
• The Chansons de Bilitis were first performed on 7 February 1901 in Paris at the Salle des Fêtes du Figaro, with two flutes, two harps, and a celesta - the exact instrumentation used on this recording.
• Pierre Louÿs, whose prose poems inspired the Chansons de Bilitis, was one of Debussy's closest friends; Debussy dedicated his String Quartet to him.
• Irène Jacob, who recites the Chansons de Bilitis texts here, is best known internationally for her film roles, including Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Double Life of Véronique (1991) and Three Colors: Red (1994).
• Philippe Bernold studied at the Paris Conservatoire and was principal flutist of the Orchestre de Paris; he has since become one of France's most respected chamber musicians and pedagogues.
• Stéphane Mallarmé famously praised Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune for having "prolonged the emotion" of his own poem - a tribute that cemented the flute's symbolic place in the Impressionist sound world.

Track Listing

1-3. Sonate pour flûte, alto et harpe (1915)

1. La Flûte de Pan (Syrinx) - pour flûte seule (1913) / Transcription pour flûte et piano par Gustave Samazeuilh (1925)
2. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune 6-17. Les Chansons de Bilitis (1901)
3. La Flûte de Pan (Syrinx) - version originale avec récitante / Musique de théâtre pour Psyché de Gabriel Mourey (Acte III, 1)

Label & Publisher

Harmonia Mundi s.a., Mas de Vert, 13200 Arles. Original recording © 1998. This edition © 2012 Harmonia Mundi.

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