Jacques Tchamkerten (ondes martenot)
Slovak Philharmonic Choir (Choirmaster: Ladislav Holàsek)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Adriano, conductor
Arthur Honegger, one of the greatest twentieth century composers, made an unrivalled contribution to film music during the course of some thirty years, from his scores for Abel Gance’s silent epics La Roue in 1922 and Napoléon in 1926 to his last works of this kind in 1951 – a total of some forty film scores.
This disc brings together four scores from the 1930s, beginning with Honegger’s own suite from the music he wrote for Marcel Pagnol’s 1937 film, Regain, a homage to Provence and its country people. This is followed by a suite drawn from the music for Pierre Chénal’s 1934 screen dramatisation of Dostoyevsky’s great novel, Crime Et Châtiment, and two symphonic movements assembled from the score for Le Démon De L’Himalaya of 1935.
The recording concludes with the complete score provided by Honegger for Bertold Bartosch’s 1934 animated picture, L’Idée.
“The Regain score is one of Honegger's masterpieces for the cinema….Adriano mixes thrills with beauty in totally persuasive performances of rare film music.”
MusicWeb International, on the original Marco Polo release
