Lebrecht Weekly | Augusta Holmès: Symphonic poems (CPO)

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The Times of London has shrunk its weekly classical record review to an inch and a half. Other papers ignore recordings altogether, except in Christmas roundups. The classical sector is dying for want of attention and labels are laying off expert staff.

All the more reason for online publications like this to maintain continuous coverage of a vital part of the musical economy. My pick of the week may appear esoteric. It comes from Ludwigshafen in western Germany and is performed by the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz with its British chief conductor Michael Francis. The composer is an Irishwoman who lived in Paris in the second half of the 19^th century and is all but forgotten in both of her patrimonies. Augusta Holmès (1847-1903) was barred on grounds of her sex from studying at the Conservatoire. She published several works under a male pseudonym and was highly praised by Cesar Franck and Camille Saint-Saens. A devout Catholic, she bore five children out of wedlock with the Jewish poet Catulle Mendès, husband of Richard Wagner’s lover, Judith Gautier. Incestuous? C’est Paris.

Holmès’s orchestral music is intense, vigorous and well-made, suffering at worst from an excess of Wagnerolatory but none the weaker for that. At best, it is tuneful, propulsive and curious. A 23-minute symphony based on Ariosto’s Rolando Furioso has an enchanting slow movement. A symphonic poem on Andromeda is no less captivating, with nods to Berlioz and Wagner. But this is a composer with a voice of her own and a competence way above the French average.

The eye-catchers here are a pair of symphonic poems on Ireland and Poland, one as improbable as green Guinness and the other mushily sentimental (cut that harp!). No matter: this record leaves me wanting to hear more Holmès, and soon. The Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, a band in dire need of a rebrand, is a terrific ensemble with world-class wind soloists; the conductor is ex-LSO. What’s not to like? Trust me, you will want to hear this.