César FRANCK (1822-1890)
Les Béatitudes (1879) [119:32]
Louise Lebrun (soprano); Jane Berbié (mezzo); Nathalie Stutzmann (alto); David
Rendall (tenor); Peter Jeffes (tenor); Marcel Vanaud (baritone); François
Loup (bass); Daniel Ottevaere (bass)
Choir of Radio France, New Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France/Armin Jordan
rec. Church of Saint Louis des Invalides, Paris, 20-21 November 1985. DDD
WARNER APEX 2 CD 2564 69045-2 [56:46 + 62:46]
This re-release of César Franck’s oratorio Les Béatitudes will undoubtedly
please fans of the Belgian composer, but it is unlikely to stir the enthusiasm
of more casual music-lovers.
This is an ageing recording, dating from a quarter of a century ago. Originally
issued by Erato, it has now been released by Warner Classics and Jazz through
its budget Apex label. The sound quality is rather stuffy and two-dimensional.
This is not helped by the absorbent acoustics of the Saint Louis des Invalides
church and the live audience in attendance. In addition, the listener’s knowledge
and appreciation of the oratorio is hindered by the complete absence of background
notes and a full text.
The biggest problem is the music itself. Composed intermittently between 1869
and 1879, Les Béatitudes was not performed in full until June 1891
(in Dijon), seven months after Franck’s death. It suffers from a dense, even
priggish, libretto by a ‘Madame Colomb’, the wife of a friend of the composer.
Given the limited range of its subject matter – Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount
– the oratorio is too long. Its lengthy declamatory passages tend to drag,
while much of the choral writing is stodgy. Melodically, the work is less
than inspired.
Nevertheless, Les Béatitudes does have its attractions, especially
the audible influences on Franck at this time. There are shades of Berlioz
in the orchestration, particularly in Franck’s use of swirling strings and
punchy brass motifs - for example during the First Beatitude and the prelude
to the Fourth. There are also tonal nods towards Wagner in the Prologue and
the end of the Third Beatitude, which in parts also resembles Berlioz’s Grande
Messe des Morts. But much of the time one gets the impression that Franck
was striving for dramatic power without being able to achieve it.
The Radio France choir sings valiantly throughout, but their division into
earthly and celestial choruses makes little impact, partly because both halves
sound so much alike, and partly because they appear to be placed too close
together. The soloists too get mixed reviews. Marcel Vanaud is a sturdy and
reassuring Christ, while François Loup’s brief entry as Satan in the Seventh
Beatitude is truly Mephistophelian. David Rendall’s vibrato is too pronounced
not to get noticed during the Fourth Beatitude, and Louise Lebrun makes for
a matronly Angel of Mercy in the Fifth.
Definitely of interest, then, to Franck aficionados on a tight budget. Those
who are only mildly interested in the composer’s output should stick to the
better known orchestral and chamber works.
John-Pierre Joyce