Your Top 5 Favorite Honegger Works

[Mirror Image]

AFAIK, it is live, from the Saint-Dénis basilica North of Paris. So yes, the reverberation seems to be an inevitable consequence of the recording conditions.

I got to know the work on LP with the Baudo recording on Supraphon, which is highly regarded by many, but doesn't fully convince me. Then, on CD, it was first this Ozawa set, which I like very much. I have several other ones in my collection: the pioneering Ormandy on Columbia / Pristine Audio, which is not competitive as it lacks the ondes Martenot --apparently, the instrument was not available in the US when the recording was made--, the Soustrot on Alpha --very good overall--, the Cochereau from Nice on Solstice --fine--, the Rilling on Hänssler --also a top recommendation IMHO--, and the Altinoglu on DVD I mentioned above --which remains my favourite because of Sylvie Testud's heroine.

I'm looking forward to seeing the piece staged here in Madrid at the Teatro Real later this season (the curtain raiser will be Debussy's La Damoiselle Élue, so the whole program is very attractive to me!). 

Rafael, I just want to say that I always appreciate your posts, especially when it comes to French (and Swiss ), German/Austrian and Spanish music. This post about Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is no different. From the performances you mentioned, I own Baudo, Soustrot, Rilling and Ozawa, so I think I'm good in this department. Interesting you mentioned the Rilling as a top recommendation as this has been under my radar for quite some time, but only pulled the trigger on it a week or so ago (or when I bought all of those Honegger recordings). Oh and you're so lucky to be able to see a Debussy's La Damoiselle élue and Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher. What an outstanding program! I hope you enjoy it.

P.S. I managed to score, apparently, the only recording of Antigone on CD and I know I said I'm done buying CDs for awhile, but I couldn't let this one pass me by:



I honestly don't know what to expect since this is an older recording (recorded in the early 60s I believe), but, at least, I'll have a chance to hear it. This work needs a modern recording!

[Symphonic Addict]

Time for an update:

Cello Concerto
String Quartet No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Le Roi David
Une Cantate de Noël

[ritter]

Rafael, I just want to say that I always appreciate your posts, especially when it comes to French (and Swiss ), German/Austrian and Spanish music. This post about Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is no different. From the performances you mentioned, I own Baudo, Soustrot, Rilling and Ozawa, so I think I'm good in this department. Interesting you mentioned the Rilling as a top recommendation as this has been under my radar for quite some time, but only pulled the trigger on it a week or so ago (or when I bought all of those Honegger recordings). Oh and you're so lucky to be able to see a Debussy's La Damoiselle élue and Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher. What an outstanding program! I hope you enjoy it.

P.S. I managed to score, apparently, the only recording of Antigone on CD and I know I said I'm done buying CDs for awhile, but I couldn't let this one pass me by:



I honestly don't know what to expect since this is an older recording (recorded in the early 60s I believe), but, at least, I'll have a chance to hear it. This work needs a modern recording!

Thanks, John! I too appreciate your posts. It's great to be able to discuss music with you, as we have several common areas of interest!

I have that recording of Antigone in my collection. IIRC, it's the single most expensive CD I've ever purchased --it's very, very rare--! I must revisit it, as the didn't really "clicked" with me when I first approached it.  I am a fan of (most of) Cocteau's work; I even have an original tapestry by him --depicting a faun-- hanging from my dining room wall, and next to it a photograph of him holding the tapestry. I also greatly admire (most of) Honegger's music, so the combination of composer and poet is something that I should study in more depth!

Do let me know what you think of Antigone once you've listened to it...

Here's "my" Cocteau (of which six copies were woven), before I had it thoroughly cleaned -- it must have been hanging for decades in a smoke-filled room before I purchased it in an auction -- and framed:



And a photo of the artist impersonating a bullfighter (in Spanish we call this toreo de salón --living room bullfighting --)  using the tapestry as cape (capote), in his garden in Milly-la-Forêt:



Regards,

[Mirror Image]

Thanks, John! I too appreciate your posts. It's great to be able to discuss music with you, as we have several common areas of interest!

I have that recording of Antigone in my collection. IIRC, it's the single most expensive CD I've ever purchased --it's very, very rare--! I must revisit it, as the didn't really "clicked" with me when I first approached it.  I am a fan of (most of) Cocteau's work; I even have an original tapestry by him --depicting a faun-- hanging from my dining room wall, and next to it a photograph of him holding the tapestry. I also greatly admire (most of) Honegger's music, so the combination of composer and poet is something that I should study in more depth!

Do let me know what you think of Antigone once you've listened to it...

Here's "my" Cocteau (of which six copies were woven), before I had it thoroughly cleaned -- it must have been hanging for decades in a smoke-filled room before I purchased it in an auction -- and framed:



And a photo of the artist impersonating a bullfighter (in Spanish we call this toreo de salón --living room bullfighting --)  using the tapestry as cape (capote), in his garden in Milly-la-Forêt:



Regards,

The most expensive CD you've ever bought? This was a pretty expensive CD for me (I paid $26 and it was brand new and still sealed). I made an offer to a seller on eBay and they accepted, but I honestly think the only reason they did is because I had bought a good bit of Honegger, Dukas and Albéniz from them previously. That's great about your Jean Cocteau collectables. What a nice collection of history you have in your dining room!

And thank you again for the wonderful information that you continuously bestow on all of here at GMG.