Arthur Honegger - Le Roi David (Michel Piquemal)

Information

Composer: Arthur Honegger

• Le Roi David (original version)

Jacques Martin, narrator
Christine Fersen, La Pythonisse
Danielle Borst, soprano
Marie-Ange Todorovitch, mezzo-soprano
Gilles Ragon, tenor
Clara Guedj, treble

Chœur régional Vittoria d'Île-de-France
Orchestre de la Cité
Michel Piquemal, conductor

Date: 1999
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.553649

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Review

A super-budget version of Honegger's dramatic realization of the story of David and Goliath in its original instrumentation

Naxos is not quite right in calling this the 'orignal version' of Honegger's dramatic psalm, which created a sensation when it first appeared in 1921; but it does employ the original 17-piece instrumentation (without strings except for a solitary double-bass). The work started life as a series of 27 short numbers, for this combination and an amateur chorus, for a staged representation of the biblical story, from David the shepherd boy killing the giant Goliath to his kingship, his criminal prehension of Bathsheba, and finally the proclamation of his son Solomon. Two years later Honegger rescored it for orchestra (which form most recordings have adopted), and only for that concert version was narration inserted - sometimes independent, sometimes as melodrama (most strikingly in the scarifying scene of the witch of Endor).

Jacques Martin declaims the narration clearly and with a developed sense of drama; and the performance as a whole is an impressive one (the smaller orchestration no less effective), with very good players and chorus and an appropriately angelic-voiced Danielle Borst. The only weaknesses are the tenor's heavy vibrato and a very poor treble for the initial psalm. Honegger's language is extremely varied, from the exotic, the strident or the atonal to the lyricism of 'Je t'aime, Seigneur' and the beatific and ecstatic final chorus - a masterly movement. Be warned, by the way, that it is not the tracks that are numbered but, uncorrespondingly, the movements of the work.

-- Lionel Salter, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 8
http://www.classical-music.com/review/honegger
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/dec99/david.htm
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.553649&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Roi-David-Original-Version/dp/B000026CWG

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Arthur Honegger (10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les Six, but his style is weightier and more solemn than that of his colleagues. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which was inspired by the sound of a steam locomotive. The principal elements of Honegger's style are: Bachian counterpoint, driving rhythms, melodic amplitude, highly coloristic harmonies, an impressionistic use of orchestral sonorities, and a concern for formal architecture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Honegger

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Michel Piquemal (born 15 April 1947 in Paris) is a French choir conductor and conductor. He is also an operatic singer (baritone). Piquemal studied with Françoise Deslogères at the Boulogne Conservatory, then with Pierre Bernac and Denise Duval at the "Maîtrise of the ORTF". Piquemal has been invited to conduct many national and international orchestras. His discography is rich and diversified, both as a baritone and a conductor. Piquemal taught singing at the Maîtrise de Radio France, then for nearly ten years at the Conservatoire de Paris until 1994, and at the 18th arrondissement of Paris's Conservatory until 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Piquemal

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