Mélanie Bonis (1858-1937)
Orchestral Works
WDR Sinfonieorchester/Joseph Bastian
rec. 2024, Kölner Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany
Texts and translation supplied
Reviewed as lossless download
cpo 5557522 [61]
This CD was reviewed a few months ago by my colleague David Barker. I thought I’d allow a little time to elapse between our reviews but, lo and behold, in the interim, the near-identical programme has appeared on a Chandos disc, which I’ve not heard; it was warmly welcomed by Gary Higginson (review). Looking at Gary’s review, it appears that the short choral piece, Le Ruisseau is absent from the Chandos programme. If you’re choosing between the two discs, I wouldn’t view the omission of that item as a deal-breaker.
In recent years, I’ve greatly enjoyed doing some investigations of music by largely neglected French female composers, including Mel Bonis. Chiefly, my explorations have been facilitated by the enterprising label, La Boîte à Pépites. Much of the music I’ve encountered has been either chamber repertoire or art songs. I’ve heard relatively few orchestral pieces, though a few, including some by Bonis, were included in the fascinating boxed set, Compositrices: New Light on French Romantic Women Composers. In fact, it was reading Jonathan Woolf’s enthusiastic review of that set which not only prompted me to buy that collection but to start exploring further. The fact that I have heard relatively little of Mel Bonis’s orchestral output encouraged me to investigate this cpo release.
From what Markus Bruderreck says in his booklet essay, the majority of the pieces began life as compositions for piano and were subsequently orchestrated. That would explain why the constituent elements of what appear to be collections of pieces – Trois femmes de légende, for example, Suite en forme de valses or Trois danses pour orchestre – have different, and un-adjacent opus numbers. Relying on Bruderreck’s notes, I presume that Bonis herself made the orchestral versions, though there’s one stated exception; Bruderreck says that Les Gitanos was orchestrated by the French composer Adolphe Gauwin (1865-1934). Disappointingly, cpo don’t provide composition dates in their track list; I’ve added in the dates given in Gary Higginson’s review of the Chandos disc. All the orchestrations that we hear on this programme are well-crafted and colourful. That said, the music itself, while attractive and entertaining to hear, is not especially memorable. These are miniatures – the longest individual piece is Le Songe de Cléopâtre, which here plays for 8:00; only two other pieces last for 5:00 or longer. As a reviewer, one naturally tends to listen all the way through a disc but I think I’d recommend that those who listen for leisure should dip in and out of the programme.
The Trois femmes de légende contain the most substantive music on the programme, though I can’t honestly say that I felt that the portraits of any of the three characters were particularly deep. Le Songe de Cléopâtre has significant oriental tinges and the scoring is colourful. Ophélie is well imagined for orchestra. Salomé offers a much less visceral view of the young girl compared to Richard Strauss’s portrayal: vigorous dance episodes alternate with calmer passages of music. Once again, Bonis has oriental touches in her orchestral palette.
Suite orientale presents orchestrations of two movements. ‘Prélude’ and ‘Danse d’Almée’, from a three-movement trio composed for violin (or flute), cello and piano. Both sound well in their orchestral dress: ‘Prélude’ is delicate and charming, while ‘Danse d’Almée ‘is lively and attractive.
I learned from the booklet that Suite en forme de valses and Danse sacrée are all orchestrations of movements from the same set of pieces for piano, four hands. However, Bonis published the two orchestrations quite separately, so I suppose cpo’s decision to separate them on the disc makes sense. I liked Danse sacrée; the music is graceful and sounds quite fragile. It’s attractive and the orchestration sounds to me to be wholly successful. In the case of Suite en forme de valses I see that the word ‘elegant’ occurs more than once in my listening notes.
The three vocal numbers round off the programme nicely. Le Chat sur le toit (The cat on the roof) is described as a Nocturne. In actual fact, the music – and indeed the text – are rather livelier than I would expect from a nocturne; but the piece is undoubtedly nocturnal. It’s amusing and both Lydia Teuscher and the orchestra deliver the music with appropriately feline delicacy. Noël de la Vierge Marie is a touching, though rather sentimental lullaby. Julie Robard-Gendre sings it expressively and the orchestra demonstrates how fastidious the scoring is. The final item, Le Ruisseau (The Brook) is a duet for soprano and alto but here it’s sung by the ladies of the WDR Rundfunkchores. The vocal lines are charmingly fluent and both the singers and the orchestra perform the music with a nice light touch.
I don’t think there are any undiscovered masterpieces here. I don’t want to appear to damn the music with faint praise but it is pleasant and very well crafted; it’s enjoyable to hear. It’s all well performed by the WDR Sinfonieorchester under Joseph Bastian and the performances are presented in good sound.
John Quinn
Previous review: David Barker
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Contents
Trois femmes de légende
I. Le Songe de Cléopâtre op. 180
II. Ophélie op. 165
III. Salomé op. 100 / 2
Suite orientale op. 48/2
Les Gitanos, Valse éspagnole op. 15/3
Suite en forme de valses
I. Ballabile op. 37/3
II. Interlude et Valse lente op. 38/3
III. Scherzo-valse op. 35/3
Trois danses pour orchestre
I. Bourée op. 62/2
II. Pavane op. 81/3
III. Sarabande op. 82/2
Danse sacrée op. 36/2
Le Chat sur le toit (Les Amours du chat) op. 93/2
Lydia Teuscher (soprano)
Noël de la Vierge Marie op. 54/2
Julie Robard-Gendre (mezzo-soprano)
Le Ruisseau op. 21/2
Damen des WDR Rundfunkchores
