Schoenberg & Honegger Baltic Chamber Orchestra & Emmanuel Leducq-Barome

• Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951):
• 1 Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (1899, version for string orchestra 1943) 31:22
• Arthur Honegger (1892 - 1955): Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra and trumpet:
• 2 Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra and trumpet: I. Molto moderato. Allegro 11:04
• 3 Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra and trumpet: II. Adagio mesto 08:57
• 4 Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra and trumpet: III. Vivace non troppo 05:08
• Total Runtime 56:31

Info for Schoenberg & Honegger

Schoenberg’s early String Sextet ‘Verkläte Nacht’ (Transfigured Night) op.4 dates from 1899. He made the arrangement for string orchestra in 1943. It is a work heavily indebted to Wagner, and especially ‘Tristan und Isolde’ although the unique voice of Schoenberg is already apparent. ‘Gurrelieder’ and ‘Pelleas und Melisande’ would bring the curtain down on his late romantic period and the daring atonal music that has caused him to remain a musical bogey man for many would follow. Verkläte Nacht is a wonderful, intensely moving work and the ideal introduction to this great composer.

Honegger, famous today for his depiction in music of an express steam locomotive ‘Pacific 231’ and the game of rugby in the eponymous work for orchestra composed five symphonies. The second is scored for strings and trumpet. Composed for Paul Sacher and his Basel Chamber Orchestra it was written during the darkest years of World War II. The Nazi’s had banned Honegger’s music and he was branded as ‘leftist’, composing music for films for resistance cinema. It is a powerful work with a lament -like central slow movement and an energetic choral theme in the finale providing a sense of triumphant resolution.

The Baltic Chamber Orchestra’s first release for Rubicon – Strauss Metamophosen and Shostakovich Chamber Symphony was praised by the BBC Music Magazine and made an orchestral CD of the month upon release. This new album looks set to receive a similarly positive reception.

Baltic Chamber Orchestra
Emmanuel Leducq-Barome, conductor

Emmanuel Leducq-Barôme
Since August 2014, Emmanuel Leducq-Barome has been appointed chief conductor and musical director of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of Saratov Philharmonie named after Alfred Schnittke (Russia).

After musical studies at the conservatories of Lyon and Geneva, Emmanuel Leducq-Barome was admitted, at the age of 21, into the class of conductor Mariss Jansons at the Saint-Petersburg Conservatory. In 1997 he concluded his studies there under the legendary pedagogue Ilya Musin, the mentor of several generations of conductors, including Valery Gergiev, Semyon Bychkov and Yuri Temirkanov.

Since then he has held the post of principal conductor at the philharmonic orchestras of Kaliningrad and Irkutsk, in Russia.

In recent years, Emmanuel Leducq-Barome has been invited to conduct several of the most prestigious Russian orchestras, such as the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Russian National State Orchestra, the Academic Saint-Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and many others, as well as several Russian Opera Houses. In September 2000 he was appointed musical director of the « Baltic Chamber Orchestra » (a chamber orchestra formed by the principal string players of the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic); with which he has made several recordings and concert tours in Europe. He also has been appointed principal guest conductor of the East Russian Symphony Orchestra in Khabarovsk.

He has taken part in numerous European summer music festivals (in France, Sweden, Germany, Poland,…) conducting various Russian ensembles, particularly the Baltic Chamber Orchestra, and working with such prestigious soloists as Natalia Gutman, Yakov Kasman, Regis Pasquier, Arto Noras, Pierre Amoyal, Ilya Yakushev, Andrei Korobeinikov, Alena Baeva, Denis Masleev, Denis Matsuev, and many others.

In France he has conducted several different orchestras such as the Orchestre National du Capitole de Tolouse, the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, the Orchestras of Cannes, Bretagne, Picardie, the Lorraine Philharmonic and, recently, the Orchestra of Bordeaux-Aquitaine. He also had engagements to conduct productions of “Carmen”, “Pique Dame”, “Iolanta” in Russia. Few years ago he conducted the season-opening concert at the Rio de Janeiro Opera as replacement Maestro Kurt Masur, and in June the same year he gave his debut concert in the USA conducting the Texas Festival Orchestra at the Round Top Festival.

Following an invitation of conductor Yuri Temirkanov, he conducted in 2010 the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic for the first time and since then was invited regularly to conduct this world class ensemble. His recordings with different orchestras have received great critical acclaim from “Monde de la Musique”, “Classica”, “Télérama” and “Diapason”, as well as from international critics. Emmanuel Leducq-Barome is a laureate of the 2001 AFAA Price. (Association Française d’Action Artistique).

Booklet for Schoenberg & Honegger