大象传媒

Donald Macleod explores Chausson鈥檚 passion for art which he indulged at home in France and on frequent trips to Italy.

Am茅d茅e-Ernest Chausson grew up in Paris during a period of great political, social and economic upheaval in France. Born in 1855, he was fifteen at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian; he lived through the collapse of the Second Empire and the advent of the Third Republic. However Chausson鈥檚 family was materially little affected by these dramatic events, quite the opposite in fact. His father profited from the 1850s onwards, working as a building contractor for Baron Haussmann, the man Napoleon III had entrusted to remodel the narrow streets of medieval Paris into wide open boulevards. Even after Napoleon was deposed, the re-construction of the capital city continued. Chausson鈥檚 bourgeois lifestyle reflects the salon society of the mid nineteenth century, with an extensive art collection adorning the walls of his family鈥檚 substantial residence at 22 Boulevard de Courcelles a stone鈥檚 throw from leafy Parc Monceau. Chausson remained in the same mansion with his wife and their three children. Supported by a private income, unlike most artists and musicians within his large circle of acquaintances, he was able to devote himself to composing entirely without any pressure to provide financially for his family. That鈥檚 not to say that Chausson鈥檚 life was without a care in the world. Critics saw him as a dilettante rather than a serious musician. His relatively small output reflects the agonies of doubt in his mind. His battle to find his own voice at a time when Wagner had cast a long shadow over French music resulted in his only opera taking almost ten years to complete. This struggle for artistic recognition was only just turning a corner when he died unexpectedly at the age of 44 in 1899.

La Nuit, Op 11
Brigitte Balleys, mezzo soprano
Sandrine Piau, soprano
Billy Eidi, piano

Chanson perpetuelle Op 37
Salom茅 Haller, soprano
Le Quatuor Manfred
Nicolas Kruger, piano

Soir de F锚te, Op 32
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse
Michel Plasson, conductor

Piano Quartet in A major Op 30 (First movement)
Schubert Ensemble

La L茅gende de Sainte-C茅cile, Op 22 (Act 3 Finale)
Isabelle Vernet, soprano
Chorus of Radio France
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, conductor

Producer: Johannah Smith for 大象传媒 Wales