Hahn • Saint-Saëns Hahn: À la lumière; Chansons et madrigaux – selection, etc. Saint-Saëns: Des pas dans l’allée etc Accentus/Christophe Grapperon; Eloïse Bella Kohn (piano) Alpha Classics ALPHA 864 53:23 mins
Mention Saint-Saëns or Reynaldo Hahn and secular choral music is unlikely to spring to mind. As is clear, though, from this enchanting new collection, both composers are typically adroit. Mostly for a cappella voices, these pieces were generally written for the amateur singing societies that arose in 19th-century France, or the choral ensembles formed by enthusiasts frequenting Parisian salons. The ever-shifting, rich harmonies of the title work, Hahn’s À la lumière, are testament that writing for amateurs meant a lack neither of challenge nor musical quality (how come this has never been recorded before?).
Nonetheless, it is luxury casting to hear works that could grace many local choirs sung by Accentus under Christophe Grapperon and, a couple of minor imprecisions aside, the results are ravishing. The sustained reverie of Saint-Saëns’s ‘Calme des nuits’, with its spine-tingling anchoring of the word ‘profonde’, is mesmerisingly and daringly sustained. By contrast, swinging tankards can be sensed in the men’s vigorous romp through ‘Saltarelle’ with its youthful bluster and bravado. A less rambunctious carefree spirit pervades Hahn’s ‘Les Fourriers d’été’, a perfect foil for the deeply affecting, and aptly titled, ‘Pleurez avec moi’ (Weep with me). Piano underpins the final three Hahn songs, the aged-oak spirit of the introduction and postlude to the effulgent ‘La jour’ reminiscent of the incomparable ‘A chloris’. Eloïse Bella Kohn deftly judges the textures, not least the glistening shimmer in ‘Aubade Athénienne’, providing a radiant conclusion to an enchanting album.
Christopher Dingle