A wonderful collection of Franck tone poems, most of them drawn from Daniel Barenboim’s now deleted recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and adding the wonderfully airborne Ansermet performance of ‘Les Eolides’. Try the sheer orchestral terror of ‘Le Chasseur Maudit’ (‘The Accursed Huntsman’) or the blazing brass of ‘Redemption’ for sonic thrills or revel in the extraordinary eroticism of ‘Psyche’ – these wonderful works and recordings are long overdue for exhumation.
What a good idea to gather together Barenboim’s 1976 Franck recordings…Redemption is given a splendidly convincing performance, with brass antiphonies gloriously brought out, making one wonder at the work’s relative neglect. –PENGUIN GUIDE
CÉSAR FRANCK
Rédemption: Morceau symphonique roman
Nocturne pour contralto et orchestre roman*
Le Chasseur maudit: Poème symphonique roman
Psyché: Poème symphonique roman
Les Éolides: Poème symphonique roman**
Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano*
Orchestre de Paris
Daniel Barenboim
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande**
Ernest Ansermet**