Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer & Symphonie Op. 20

“… The approach of Gens and Bloch has a clear validity that sheds new light on the music…”

“With a finely nuanced and well-articulated singing, Véronique Gens is outstanding in Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer. She is well supported by the Lille Orchestra from which we get a passionate reading of the same composer’s symphony. Alexandre Bloch accentuates the contrasts and cares for a fluid and colourful performance.” *****

“Like the best performers of song, she sings in a straightforward manner, no with pecking, swooping or breathiness. Her diction is crisp and allow us to enjoy the poetry of Maurice Bouchor. A gem of simplicity and elegance. Gens is aided by Alexandre Bloch’s conducting, which is well-paced and never over-indulgent, yet still seductive.” ****

“Gens’s crystalline sound and immaculate diction are a bonus in these sumptuous settings of poems by Maurice Bouchor...The Symphony is more seldom recorded (or programmed live), but benefits here from Bloch’s idiomatic sense of drama and evocation of atmosphere…Superb.”

“… The composer’s only symphony, in B flat, opens in bright, soaring mood, with a yearning slow movement and an “animé” finale that pulls all the work’s ideas together. Perhaps it doesn’t quite cut it as a masterpiece, but the Lille players and Bloch make a fluent, idiomatic case. The presence of Gens in the gorgeous Poème is the real draw here.”

Editor’s Choice – Vocal Section

"…The playing is rich, both in sound and detail, the brass warm and burnished, the woodwind elegant and refined, while the recording, like that of Poème, is both spacious and exactingly balanced. It’s an outstanding disc, and highly recommended."