Chausson Le Roi Arthus

 Day 103

Chausson Le Roi Arthus

Soloists

Radio France orchestra and choir

Armin Jordan

Chausson’s tends to be a footnote in musical history in lists of composers who died in unusual circumstances. In Chausson’s case this was in a cycling accident when aged 44 he lost control on a hill  and crashed into a brick wall, though there are some theories that this might have been suicide.

I knew a few of his songs and his Poème for violin and orchestra but this was my first encounter with this opera. It is a big piece in three long acts using large orchestral forces and a choir which at times is divided into a dozen or so parts. The leafing roles are highly demanding and sit very high in the register. It is perhaps not surprising that it has never entered the repertory - indeed it wasn’t performed at all until several years after the composer’s death.

Though is it still obviously a French work the spirit of Wagner permeates the whole score - indeed it has been described as simply a reworking of Tristan und Isolde using characters from the tales of King Arthur. The orchestral sonority is very dark and Wagnerian with the sound of the bass clarinet and cor anglais again bringing echos of Tristan, though the operatic use of the bass clarinet really became established in Les Huguenots. There is even a part for contrabass clarinet in the score though it was hard to see quite why Chausson had included it as it was very difficult to hear it.

Chausson brings real intensity to the dramatic scenes - the central love duet is white hot and the call to arms at the end of act I was truly frightening. Yet the more reflective music is in its way equally impressive - none more so that then beautiful end as King Arthus is taken to eternity. The use of five wordless solo voice in conjunction with a divided chorus gave a quite wonderful texture.

For all the Wagnerian elements this was still recognisably a French opera. The mellifluous vocal lines and the sense of colour was certainly evidence of that. It sits well with Pelleas and Ariane which I have already featured in this blog as a masterpiece of  symbolist opera. Perhaps it is not quite consistent on the same level as those two pieces but it was still a hugely impressive achievement. One wonders what Chausson would have gone on to write had he had better brakes on his bicycle!