Composer: Ernest Chausson, Claude Achille Debussy, Albert Roussel
Performer: Dame Felicity Lott
Orchestra: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Conductor: Armin Jordan
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Audite
Catalogue: AUDITE95648
Release: 2020
Size: 788 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43
02. Suite No. 2
Debussy: Epigraphes antiques (Orch. By Ernest Ansermet)
03. I. Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d’été
04. II. Pour un tombeau sans nom
05. III. Pour que la nuit soit propice
06. IV. Pour la danseuse aux crotales
07. V. Pour l’Égyptienne
08. Vi. Pour remercier la pluie au matin
Chausson: Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Op. 19
09. I. La fleur des eaux
10. Interlude
11. II. La mort de l’amour
The performances of the Swiss conductor Armin Jordan are characterised by a soft, supple and richly colourful orchestral sound, flexibility and warmth. He was a master of French repertoire as well as the music tradition of Central Europe, combining both traditions in his very own musical thumbprint. Released here for the first time are live recordings made in Lucerne with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, which experienced a golden era under Jordan’s leadership between 1985 and 1997.
The prestigious Lucerne Festival, which has seen, and still today showcases, the very best conductors, soloists and orchestras on the planet, continues to publish its exceptional archives. This new offering displays the sumptuous return of Armin Jordan who led the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande between 1985 and 1997 and gave a second “golden age” to the Genovese ensemble after the fruitful years of Ansermet (1918-1967).
With his Germanic and Latin cultural heritage, Armin Jordan took pleasure in gracing works with a generous and tormented lyricism. His only two appearances at the podium of the ancient Kunsthaus at the festival of his birth town are brought together here with his superb recordings created in 1988 and 1994. Here we find his stunning sense of colour and unique mix of fluidity, transparence and vigour which he made his own.
After Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun with its hazy poeticism, we discover the Second Suite of Bacchus and Arriadne by Albert Roussel led by a beating drum with a touring OSR at the top of its game. The strength of this interpretation perfectly fills a gap as Jordan had never recorded this flamboyant work in studio. Such is not the case with Poème de l’amour et de la mer which was recorded in Monte-Carlo for Erato with Jessye Norman.
In this 1994 Lucerne concert, he directed his dear companion Felicity Lott. While the voice of this English cantata singer doesn’t have the amber-scented and sensual colour of her American colleague, she nevertheless possesses a timbre of perfect harmony with the style and colour of the Chausson conductor. Finally, one can admire Ansermet’s beautiful orchestration recorded in 1932 with Claude Debussy’s Six Épigraphes Antiques where he displayed the most intricate of details as much as Jordan perfectly translates its flourishes and subtleties.