Dukas at the Prix de Rome

 

It wasn't to his liking.

It sounds like the Prix de Rome ran much like a modern Classical Music competition - full of politics and favoritism.

Dukas never won the premiere prize of the Prix de Rome, which he believed to be all but in the bag at his last attempt. As it happened, no prizes were given out at all that year; a giant snub to Dukas.

Dukas moved on with his life, and to round out this program, we are given two works which came after his Prix de Rome experience.

Otherwise, this 2CD recording contains Dukas' music from 1884-1889, when the composer was 20-25 years of age, well before his compositional maturity. The two additional works date from 1901-1906, and even these come before what he is now well-known for composing.

So what do we have here? Two 30-minute vocal cantatas, an orchestrated song for solo soprano, four orchestrated choral works, one orchestral-only overture, and a concertante piece for horn and orchestra.

Before I get into the music, let me comment on the physical media. You can get the CDs alone, pictured at the top, but I ventured into the book version, which also pockets the 2CDs within.

If you have never purchased a Bru Zane product before, they are a luxury item. A 125-page book, with solid covers and binding, ribbon bookmarks, and a whole lot of historical information comes with the physical product.

35 of the pages are expended on five essays dedicated to Dukas' experience with the Prix de Rome, but also covers the composer's methods of orchestrations, and some background on the librettos in his cantatas. These essays are offered in both English and French, accompanied by many photographs and manuscript pictures.

Additionally, 25-pages are given over to the original-language song texts and their English translations, not to mention listing all of the performers involved - soloists, chorus, and orchestra. As I said, it is a luxury item for sure, and sizing at about 8-1/2 X 5-1/2, it is not in a typical music size, and is a little oddly shaped compared to books too.

It is a beautiful book, but it would all be for nought if the music wasn't worth the while.

Well, what I can say is Hervé Niquet, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Flemish Radio Choir, and no less than 10 soloists give this rare music as fine a performance as anyone could expect. Usually among such a large cast of singers, I would find an odd voice here or there which isn't to my tastes, but really, these are all solid singers with beautiful voices across the board. The orchestra is no slouch either and Niquet gives this academic music more beauty than it probably has any right to have on record.

The two solo cantatas, Sémélé and Velléda, do not come with choir, and are more akin to French mythological and historical opera scenes than anything else. They are dramatic and turgid, where the singers eke out the last drop of drama available.

The four choral offerings are each rather short, no more than 3-4 minutes each, but having an orchestral background is divine. There isn't much to compare them to, except maybe Brahms, but that would probably be a reach. I also really like the sea tale in The Mermaid and the Fisherman, a high point of Dukas' watery orchestral effects.

The Polyeucte Overture and Villanelle for horn are the extras, the former pretty well known on record. I was rather enchanted with the playful horn concerto, but I am always a sucker for French Horn. I am rather surprised, especially with their mention in the liner notes, that Dukas' early overtures weren't included to fill out the runtimes, but they did receive a great performance on Sterling.

The Bru Zane catalog will be for a very particular music listener. The full-book layout isn't cheap, but you are getting a wonderful product, both physically and musically. You can opt for the recording alone (I believe...), but even it is not cheap.

Well, if you are in the market for early Dukas music, and want to dig deeper into the Prix de Rome, this is the fifth volume of a six volume series, at least so far, so there is much to explore. Whether it will appeal to a wide audience, that is far from certain, for none of these early works are of a mature composer, yet each work is given ideal performances.

Listen on YouTube

Works
Sémélé (30.55)
Velléda (30.03)
Les Sirènes (4.09)
La Fête des Myrthes (4.33)
Pensée des Morts (3.37)
Hymne au Soleil (3.48)
L'Ondine et le Pêcheur (6.01)
Polyeucte Overture (12.31)
Villanelle (6.21)

Soloists
Marianne Fiset, soprano
Catherine Hunold, soprano
Chantal Santon-Jeffery, soprano
Kate Aldrich, mezzo-soprano
Marie Kalinine, mezzo-soprano
Frederic Antoun, tenor
Cyrille Dubois, tenor
Andrew Foster-Williams, baritone
Tassis Christoyannis, baritone

Hans van der Zanden, horn

Ensemble
Brussels Philharmonic
Hervé Niquet, conductor

Label: Bru Zane
Year: 2015 / 2022
Total Timing: 1.42.09

I probably wouldn't rate this highly for Dukas music alone. His style is not as far reaching as it will become later in life.

But, how can I fault any of these wonderful performances and Bru Zane's effort to provide a high-quality product such as this?

I can't, so there!

Find more Dukas recordings HERE!