Farrenc, Louise (1804-1875) - Symphonies Nos.1, 3 : Laurence Equilbey / Insula Orchestra - Import CD

Credits:

Farrenc, Louise (1804-1875)

Description:

A performance of the symphonies by composer Louise Falanque, the first woman to hold a professorship at the Paris Conservatory, conducted by Laurence Ekilbey and accompanied by a period instrument orchestra that recreates the reformed expression Louise Falanque was born in Paris in 1804 to an artistic family under the maiden name of Jeanne Louise Dumont. She began piano lessons at the age of six, when the great pianists of the time, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Ignatz Moscheles, visited Paris. 15 years old, she studied composition, music theory and instrumental methods at the Paris Conservatory with Antonin Reyha. In 1821, she married Aristide Falanch, a flutist, musicologist, and music publisher. Aristide Falanque was very supportive of her work, and in the 1830s Louise Falanque established a reputation as a pianist, publishing her first wind and string works beginning in 1834. Her first successful published work, Variations on a Russian Song, was acclaimed by Robert Schumann, and in 1842 she made history by becoming a professor at the Paris Conservatory. In 1842, she made history by becoming a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris, the first woman to hold this kind of senior position in Europe.She worked at the Paris Conservatory for the next 30 years, but had to work very hard to achieve the same level of compensation as her male professors. Falanques was, of course, an unusually highly regarded female composer, but she was also a rare symphony composer. At the time, symphonic music was not considered the domain of French composers because of the popularity of operatic performances. The symphony was considered a Germanic form, and in fact Faranc's works are closer to the spirit of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schumann than to their French contemporaries. She had to wait four years before the premiere of her First Symphony in Paris, and the first performance in 1841 was in Brussels. The program at that time included Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, with her daughter Victorine Falanques as soloist, and the symphony was well received. Thus, the premiere of Farrank's Second Symphony took place in Paris in January 1846, just one month after its completion, and the 1849 premiere of the Third Symphony was given by the prestigious Orchestre de la Concert Association de la Conservatoire de Paris.He was so talented that the French Academy awarded him the Chartier Prize for orchestral music in 1861 and 1869. (1/2) Warner Music Japan

Tracklisting:

1.Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op. 32~I. Andante sostenuto - Allegro
2.Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op. 32~II. Adagio cantabile
3.Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op. 32~III. Minuetto: Moderato
4.Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op. 32~IV. Finale: Allegro assai
5.Symphony No. 3 in G minor Op. 36~I. Adagio - Allegro
6.Symphony No. 3 in G minor Op. 36~II. Adagio cantabile
7.Symphony No. 3 in G minor Op. 36~III. Scherzo: Vivace
8.Symphony No. 3 in G minor Op. 36~IV. Finale: Allegro