Turbulent Heart

28/10/2009
Dorothea Zweipfennig
Der Neue Merker (Germany) (English translation)

Ernest Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer Op.19 is almost exclusively performed by female singers today, ignoring the fact that originally it was meant to be a cycle for tenor. So this CD presents the first or original version, so to speak. Anyone not able to go along with that idea should hear this CD in any case because Steve Davislim sings these elegiac symphonic poems beautifully. Davislim himself shows a pleasing development; every new release of his surpasses the last. And the oriental settings of Victor Hugo (Les Djinns, Eros, Ballade du désespéré, Psyché) by Louis Vierne are equally a highlight alongside the Chausson.

Guillaume Torniaire conducts the Queensland Orchestra, conjuring up a miraculous French oriental sound. – Highly recommended!