| Disc No: CYP1634 |
Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) was, as many Belgian late-romantic composers, a prolific symphonist. This new cd covers the first part of his career, just after his « Prix de Rome » which gave him the opportunity to travel extensively in Germany and France. The vast Cello Concerto – an absolute premiere on disc – appears as still being under some accross-the-Rhine influence; but the two symphonic works which sourround the Concerto on this recording, dating from the last decade before WW1, both witness Jongen’s fascination for French music, from César Franck’s school up to Claude Debussy. Yet, above all discussions on influences, a true personality comes out of these works, obviously in continual search for harmonic beauty, colors, equilibrium and unexcessive modernity. We find here the young cellist Marie Hallynck and the National Orchestra of Belgium again, whose Cello Concertos by Vieuxtemps (CYP4609) were warmly welcomed in 2001. They perform here under the baton of the excellent Ukrainian conductor Roman Kofman, who recently succeeded Marc Soustrot as Generalmusikdirector in Bonn.
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