Poulenc: Gloria & Honegger: Symphony 3

This release from RCO Live presents chief conductor Mariss Jansons with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in two works that were created from totally different philosophies of life. Even though they were lifelong friends, there was a great contrast between Arthur Honegger and Francis Poulenc, two members of the French group of composers known as ‘Les Six’ — between the French-speaking Swiss whose family came from the Züricher Oberland and the native Parisian, between the arch-pessimist with a Protestant background and the frivolous Catholic. The two religious compositions that are recorded here are also extremely different in character: Honegger’s Symphonie liturgique is filled with sombre warnings, whilst Poulenc’s ecstatic Gloria is an unequivocable paean of rejoicing.

Recorded live at Concertgebouw Amsterdam: Honegger on 4 and 6 September 2004, Poulenc on 22, 23, and 25 December 2005.