Boulanger: Faust et Hélène, etc.

Lili Boulanger (Composer), Yan Pascal Tortelier (Conductor), Ann Murray (Performer), BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Lynne Dawson (Performer), Neil MacKenzie (Performer), Bonaventura Bottone (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Ann Murray, Lynne Dawson, Neil MacKenzie, Bonaventura Bottone
• Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier
• Composer: Lili Boulanger
• Audio CD (August 17, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B00000JWIU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,159 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Lili Boulanger's setting of the 130th Psalm is a choral masterpiece. Tortelier and his forces deliver a vivid performance, recorded with tremendous presence. There is even more power in the old Markevich performance, done under Nadia Boulanger's supervision, but the superior Chandos recording makes a difference. Faust et Hélène is a somewhat immature student work (a strange qualification for music by a composer who died at 24), but it is also well performed. The remaining music represents Boulanger's visionary eloquence. This disc is highly recommended as an introduction to a great composer. After you hear it, try the Everest disc, despite the duplications. It contains Boulanger's deathbed Pie Jesu, a brief piece of such intense power that it will leave most listeners in tears. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Award Winning Recording of Lili Boulanger's Music, January 5, 2001

By 

D. A Wend (Arlington Heights, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boulanger: Faust et Hélène, etc. (Audio CD)

It may be an overused word today but Lili Boulanger was a genius. She showed a remarkable ability to lean music theory and began auditing classes at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 5. Lili won the coveted Prix de Rome at the age of 19 with Faust et Helene, a cantata that is recorded on this disc. She won the prize with 31 votes out of 36. Before her death in March 1918 at the age of 24, Lili wrote some very powerful music. Knowing that she had a fatal disease (Crohn's disease) spurred her on to write music against the short amount of time she had.

This recording by Yan Pascal Tortelier won the Choral Gramophone Award for 2000. It is a representative collection of the music of Lili Boulanger from the glittering Psaume 24 to the dark and haunting D'un soir triste. D'un matin du printemps is charming orchestral work descriptive of a sunny spring morning. Psaume 130 is a very dramatic work for orchestra, organ, chorus and soloists that shows Lili expertly handling such large forces. Written in 1917 the content is indicted by the subject of the psalm: Out of the depths of the abyss. One is struck by the maturity of Lili Boulanger's music. If one had to guess who wrote these pieces the name of Faure, Debussy or Massenet might come up.

If you like choral music in general this disc will be a revelation. If you are curious about Lili Boulanger the works collected here give a good idea of her of her musical language. The performances are well recorded and expertly played.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Mozart or Beethoven Taken Too Soon., January 11, 2001

By 

Donald M Shapiro MD (Edwardsville, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boulanger: Faust et Hélène, etc. (Audio CD)

This is a wonderfully recorded album of choral and other works by Lili Boulanger. The fidelity of the recording is outstanding. My favorite is Psaume 24. This is an excellent addition to the choral library of any one liking choral music. After listening to her music, one can only wonder about the achievements she might have reached had she not have died at the young age of 24.