2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of French poet, Alphonse de Lamartine. Together, All Souls College, the Maison Française d’Oxford, the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) and Wadham College are delighted to welcome the eminent French bass-baritone Philippe Cantor and pianist Daniel Propper in a programme of songs to words by Lamartine to be performed in the Holywell Music Room. Beforehand, Olivier Feignier will give a lecture (in English) on Lamartine's poetry and its musical incarnations, entitled 'Adding the melody of music to the sighing of poetry - Lamartine set to music by his contemporaries'.
Entry to both events is free, and booking in advance is highly recommended.
Register for the lecture | Register for the concert
If you would prefer not to register via Eventbrite, please email the TORCH team at torch@humanities.ox.ac.uk.
- Philippe Cantor started his career on ancient music in “La Grande Ecurie & la Chambre du Roy » with Jean-Claude Malgoire and in various ensembles such as “Clément Janequin” and “Les Arts florissants”. He won the Rennes 1992 Prize for the part of Golaud in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and worked on music from the twenty-ninth and twentieth centuries, and created contemporary music with Antoine Duhamel, Pierre Jansen and Jean-Claude Wolf. Philippe now sings opera (Compagnie Fêtes Galantes - Béatrice Massin / Teatro Malandro - Omar Porras), baroque music (Ensemble baroque de Nice - Gilbert Bezzina / Ensemble Fuoco E Cenere - Jay Bernfeld / Ensemble Stradivaria – Daniel Cuiller) and chamber music (Quatuor Debussy / Ens. Orpheon – Philippe Forget), and solo recitals with pianists Sophie Rives (3 albums on Debussy, Poulenc et Ravel with Anima Records label), Mara Dobresco, Didier Puntos, Jean-François Ballèvre, Daniel Propper…
- Daniel Propper is a Swedish pianist of Austrian origins born in Stockholm. He studied at an early age with Gunnar Hallhagen and was later encouraged by Tatiana Nikolaieva. As a prize-winner of many competitions and grants he completed his musicals studies at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm, at Juilliard School in New York and at the Paris Conservatory. He performs internationally with artists such as Alexander Brussilovsky, Julian Milkis, Anton Martynov, Mark Drobinsky, Emmanuelle Bertrand, Noël Lee, Emmanuel Krivine, Yutoka Sado and many others.
- Romantic poetry and Romantic music are core subjects in Olivier Feignier’s collection of books, prints, and music scores. Since 2012, he has: presented Echoes of the battlefields, seven piano pieces interpreted by Daniel Propper, which narrate the Napoleonic epic (2012 Award Fondation Napoléon); presented the Dithyramb on the Death of Napoleon attributed to Byron (London, 2013); organised a celebration day dedicated to Célestin Nanteuil, with a concert of pieces whose scores were all illustrated by the graphic artist (Oct. 2013, with Philippe Cantor, baritone); presented Byron at the keyboard (Tbilisi, 2014); organised the Daniel Steibelt Day, in occasion of the 250th anniversary of the pianist and composer, with three concerts (Oct. 2015); organised a Byron concert in Paris (July 2016); researched Byron’s influence on music in France during Berlioz’s lifetime (Berlioz Society, Nov. 2016); presented Mazeppa’s ride in space and time (Yerevan, 2017) and Digital mobility and improvisation in 19th-century music (Ravenna, 2018).
Programme
Alphonse de LAMARTINE (1790 – 1869)
mis en musique par ses contemporains
- Le lac ……………………………………………. L. NIEDERMEYER
- Le vallon …………………………………………. C. de SAINT-DIDIER
- L’isolement ……………………………………… H. DARONDEAU
- Le chrétien mourant ……………………………… A. MOREL
- Douce mer ………………………………………… G. BIZET
- Pensées des morts …………………………………. G. de MONTEBELLO
- Le crépuscule ……………………………………… M.W. BALFE
- Le papillon ………………………………………… H. VIEUXTEMPS
- Le soir ……………………………………………… Ch. GOUNOD
INTERVAL
- Hymne de l’enfant à son réveil (piano solo) ………. F. LISZT
- La source dans les bois ……………………………. B. GODARD
- L’automne …………………………………………. F. BODIN
- Le jour des morts…………………………………… F. DAVID
- Adieux à la mer ……………………………………. F. GRAST
- Le chant de l’Ysmen ……………………………… J. MARTINN
- Prière ……………………………………………… A. BUREAU
- Le papillon ………………………………………… J. de GLIMES
- Le lac ………………………………………………. C. SAINT-SAËNS
Philippe CANTOR (baritone) – Daniel PROPPER (piano)
