COMPOSERS: Faure
LABELS: Erato Bonsai
WORKS: Requiem; Cantique de Jean Racine; Messe Basse; Pavane
PERFORMER: Bernard Kruysen, Denis Thilliez, Arlette Steyer; Marie-Claire Alain, Chorale Philippe Caillard, Monte Carlo National Opera Orchestra/Louis Frémaux; Audite Nova/Jean Sourisse; Lausanne CO/Armin Jordan
CATALOGUE NO: 4509-94579-2 ADD (1963/84/83)
Frémaux’s early-Sixties recording of the full orchestral version of Fauré’s Requiem remains strong and resonant in this reissue. Textural clarity from the orchestra and forward projection of the soloists helps to achieve the music’s simple, expressive charm without sentimentality, though Thilliez sounds somewhat strained in the Pie Jesu. A genuinely affecting account of the Messe Basse, and evocative performances of the Cantique de Jean Racine and orchestral Pavane add to the disc’s attraction. Nicholas Rast