Youth portrait of Anton Bruckner © 2024 by OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH, Sammlung Bibliothek
Paris, Sunday, November 17, 2024.
Radio House. Max Reger: Prelude and Fugue in E minor, from the Ten Pieces, op 69; Anton Bruckner: Mass No. 2 in E minor for choir and wind instruments, WAB 27; Johann Sebastian Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 852; Johannes Brahms: Begräbnisgesang, op 13. Lucille Dollat, organ. Choeur of Radio France. Musicians of the Orchester National de France. Musical direction, Lionel Sow.
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The 19th century, in addition to being a century of deep faith in Science and Progress, was also a deeply religious century. Some dogmas, such as that of the infallibility of the Pope or that of the Immaculate Conception, were imposed in the 19th century. And with the apparitions of the Rue du Bac or Lourdes, the Marian movement takes on special importance. So, also musically, numerous religious music was born in the 19th and early 20th centuries – relatively little programmed today – by Bruckner, Berlioz, Gounod, Verdi… and even Satie!
This was a concert of choir, organ and wind instrumentalists, and the direction belonged, precisely, to the usual director of the Radio France Choir, Lionel Sow, who appeared, elegant, in a navy blue jacket, black pants and shirt white without tie.
It is not that organ music has to be all religious, but it is important to recognize that the organ, present in many temples and churches, is usually associated with spirituality. He Prelude and fugue in E minor by Reger surprises with its modernity. Accustomed, in the case of Reger, to a symphonic and concert repertoire of a post-romantic nature, in his organ writing he seems to feel totally free. Lucille Dollat ”throws herself” into her interpretation, at the risk of, with her enthusiasm, losing a certain clarity. But he manages to convince, that that’s what it’s about.
Religious music has a special importance in the Brucknerian catalogue. And listening to this Mass in E minor It is not understood why more attention is not paid to it. The full, high-volume choir – with the risk of sound saturation in certain areas of the Radio France Auditorium – is in very good shape, especially the male strings. Good intelligibility, good filling. And when it is required in its most delicate facet, it gives a beautiful sound, a round and full-bodied sound. Good work from the winds, beautiful ostinatos from the four oboes, clear lines from the instruments, which sometimes only highlight certain notes or passages, and yet give a special color to the whole.
As for the Passacaglia and fugue in C minor, BWV 852 by JS Bach, Dollat opts precisely for great clarity that we believe is necessary when dealing with an instrument with such an overwhelming sound as the Radio House organ. Thus the work also gains in understanding, with its different lines that intersect to form a whole and are perfectly perceptible.
And immediately afterwards, without giving time to applaud, the choir attacks Brahms’ work, Begräbnisgesang op 13. Funerary work of great serenity, like the 16th century poem that serves as its basis. Serene and intense, a work of youth and now an authentic work of Brahms, the chorus once again shows all the aforementioned qualities.
Sow directs (without a baton) with enthusiasm, in a very expressive but not dramatic way. The fingers themselves sometimes serve to convey expressions. There is a good knowledge of the works (in fact there are no scores on his music stand), and above all a great complicity with the choir of which he is the head.
The audience, which fills the room more than two-thirds (a good entrance for a concert without stars and with relatively little frequented works) applauds firmly.
