Franck Hulda Jennifer Holloway, François Rougier, Véronique Gens, Judith van Wanroij, Edgaras Montvidas, Marie Gautrot, Matthieu Lécroart; Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège; Chœur de Chambre de Namur/Gergely Madaras Bru Zane BZ 1052 156:10 mins (3 discs)
César Franck meets Wagner by way of Grieg in this splendid opera, presented here by the Palazzetto Bru Zane centre for French Romantic music. This is the second recording of Hulda – a five-act version was issued by Naxos in 2021. Here, Bru Zane presents the opera in four acts and restores cuts made for its premiere in Monte Carlo in 1894.
An impressive cast is led by Jennifer Holloway as Hulda, the Norwegian maid embroiled in a blood feud with her family’s rival clan. She skilfully scales the gamut of vocal characterisation, from vengeful fury to tender introspection. Véronique Gens’s darker hues are employed to full effect as Hulda’s mother, Gudrun. Judith van Wanroij brings sparkling purity to the role of Swanhilde, while Edgaras Montvidas is warmly passionate as her fiancé and Hulda’s short-lived lover, Eiolf.
Although based on a play by Norwegian writer and Ibsen contemporary Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Hulda clearly falls within the French classical and grand opera tradition rather than the heady world of Norse legend and Wagnerian music drama. There are distinct traces of Franck’s better-known symphonic works, especially in the ballet in Act IV which enacts the allegorical defeat of winter by spring. Gergely Madaras and Liège’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra expertly paint this and other scenes with Franck’s full palette of orchestral colours. The Namur Chamber Choir adds drama and urgency in their guises of fishermen and clansmen. The recording, made at concert halls in Namur and Liège, is immediate and vibrant.
John‑Pierre Joyce