Faust and Helen

Description

Daniel Harding conducting Fleur Barron mezzo-soprano Andrew Staples tenor Claude Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (after a poem by Mallarmé) The Sea, three symphonic sketches for orchestra Lili Boulanger Faust and Helen, lyrical episode after Goethe's second Faust for soloists and orchestra The evening opens with two works by Claude Debussy: inspired by a poem by Mallarmé, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun marked a turning point in orchestral writing with its boldness and impressionist character in 1894; then The Sea, three sound pictures – “symphonic sketches” as the composer called them – where the orchestra successively embodies wave, mist, and wind. In the second part, Daniel Harding conducts Faust and Helen, the work inspired by Goethe's story which earned Lili Boulanger the Grand Prix de Rome in 1913, making her the first woman to receive this distinction. At only 19 years old, the composer reveals a rare maturity, bringing to life the passionate dialogue between Faust and Helen, performed on this occasion by the voices of Fleur Barron and Andrew Staples.