Bruneau: Orchestral Works Barcelona Symphony Orchestra & Darrell Ang

• Alfred Bruneau (1857 - 1934): Messidor:
• 1 Prélude 05:54
• L'attaque du moulin suite:
• 2 I. Prélude et lied 04:50
• 3 II. La guerre. La forêt 09:03
• 4 III. Les fiançailles au moulin 07:46
• Naïs Micoulin:
• 5 Prélude 06:13
• Messidor:
• 6 La légende de l'or 30:13
• Total Runtime 01:03:59

Info for Bruneau: Orchestral Works

A composition pupil of Jules Massenet, Alfred Bruneau was largely responsible for introducing realism into French opera. His friendship with the writer Emile Zola, who shared his desire for theatrical naturalism, strongly informed his work, not least L’Attaque du Moulin (The Attack on the Mill) a ‘drame lyrique.’ The suite includes rustic elements, but also Mascagni-like verismo beauty tempered by a Gallic palette. Bruneau was a deft orchestrator with a taste for exotic color, and the excerpts from Messidor show the influence of Wagner on one of the most important but overlooked figures in turn-of-the-century French musical life. A Marco Polo release in 1994 has the same repertoire as this new recording from the Barcelona Symphony and Darrell Ang, however that album is no longer available, so this new release is a perfect opportunity to reintroduce these works.

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra
Darrell Ang,

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Catalonia
The Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya, OBC, (Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Catalonia) was founded in 1944 under the direction of Eduard Toldrà. Pablo González was appointed Music Director in September 2010. The OBC is committed to promoting classical and contemporary music of all cultures and tendencies, paying special attention to Catalan composers. Throughout its over seventy years of history, the OBC has programmed numerous new productions and has made several recordings with important labels, including an ongoing collaboration with Naxos. At the same time, the OBC is continually touring abroad, performing at some of the worldʼs major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, and the Concertgebouw, and is frequently invited to renowned international festivals. The OBC collaborates regularly with other cultural institutions, both in Spain and abroad and is the first Spanish orchestra to sign an agreement with the digital platform Medici.tv. In April 1999 the OBC moved to LʼAuditori of Barcelona, as its resident venue. The building was designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo.

Darrell Ang
Darrell Ang’s triumph at the 50th Besançon International Young Conductor’s Competition, where he took all three top awards – Grand Prix, Audience Prize and Orchestra Prize – launched his international career, leading to the music directorship of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne and numerous guest conducting engagements with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique du Strasbourg, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano ‘Giuseppe Verdi’, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, among others. Three years later Ang was selected to join the prestigious International Conductors’ Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation and invited to take on residencies with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In his native Singapore he became the youngest Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and served as the Music Director of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. Darrell Ang’s uncommon gift was discovered at the age of four when he began to play violin and piano. His training as a conductor was in St Petersburg, followed by study at Yale. Highlights from the current season include performances with the Singapore Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Bordeaux Opera.

Booklet for Bruneau: Orchestral Works