Requiem de Fauré - Poulenc - Henric

With a tradition dating back thousands of years, choirs have always inspired composers, whether they are choirmasters, organists or even from a completely different universe. Whether one is a believer or not, sacred music exerts a real fascination, so much so that the emotions it provokes seem to touch the inexpressible. For its new recording, the Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône combines the warmth of its children's voices with the striking sound of the great organs to give Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, a timeless masterpiece, its original form. This sublime work is associated with the famous Cantique de Jean Racine, a stroke of genius by the young Fauré at the age of nineteen, with Francis Poulenc's moving Litanies à la Vierge noire, written after a spiritual revelation, and with Marc Henric's Melior est sapientia, a world premiere.

Under the inspired direction of Samuel Coquard, the Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône shows a rare sensitivity and exceptional expressiveness, joined by the voices of the French baritone Marc Scoffoni and the young child soprano Lenny Bardet, both of whom are amazingly accurate and delicate. A young prodigy in his field, Emmanuel Arakélian manages to explore the richness of the timbres of the great organ of the church of Roquevaire, achieving a perfect alchemy with the children's voices.

Reviews on... -> Radio Coteaux - Pizzicato - Zébuline - Froggy's delight - Classica 

GABRIEL FAURE (1845 – 1924)
1-7. REQUIEM op. 48
1. Introït & Kyrie
2. Offertoire (a)
3. Sanctus
4. Pie Jesu (b)
5. Agnus Dei
6. Libera me (a)
7. In paradisum

(a) Marc Scoffoni, soliste baryton
(b) Lenny Bardet, soliste soprano

GABRIEL FAURE (1845 – 1924)
8. Cantique de Jean Racine op. 11

FRANCIS POULENC (1899 – 1963)
9. Litanies à la Vierge noire de Rocamadour

MARC HENRIC (né en 1987)
10. Melior est sapientia

MAÎTRISE DES BOUCHES-DU-RHÔNE
Chœur d’enfants et soliste
Yoann Barakel • Lenny Bardet • Safa Benlarbi • Oriane Bouchouareb • Luna Caixas • Clélia Cerutti • Zoé Chapron • Paul Duran Deregnaucourt • Juliette Durand • Alyssia Frederic • Mélina Kerkour •Itzel Le Mignant • Alexandre Marinier • Joséphine Mirlocca • Yaël Petit Forestier • Anna Polacsek • Séverin Rigat

Marc Henric, chef de chœur assistant
Directeur artistique de l’enregistrement

ASMARÃ
Chœur d’hommes
Jean-Bernard Arbeit • Christophe De Deyne • Jeong Hyun Han • Marc Henric •
François Isserel • Daniel Marinelli •
Matías Miceli

EMMANUEL ARAKELIAN
orgue

SAMUEL COQUARD
direction

Philippe Malidin prise de son,
montage et mastering

Enregistré à l’église Saint-Vincent de Roquevaire les 15, 16 et 17 juin 2022