It was not until 1897, when Artur Nikisch conducted Ernest Chausson’s 'Symphonie', that it was hailed as a masterpiece in Paris, Brussels and Barcelona, on a par with Beethoven’s or Schumann’s symphonies. Sir John Barbirolli was responsible for introducing Kathleen Ferrier to the 'Poeme de l’amour et de la mer', a setting of a poem by Maurice Bouchor, composed between 1882 and 1890. Barbirolli played in the cello section of the orchestra at the work’s London premiere, on 29 May 1919 at Queen’s Hall, conducted by Geoffrey Toye. The recording on this CD comes from a performance in Manchester’s Deansgate in March 1951, and offers Ferrier’s superb account of this masterly score, a work which had obviously come to mean something very personal to her and to Barbirolli. A few days before Kathleen Ferrier died, the conductor visited her in hospital. He was clearly deeply moved on that occasion when she sang the opening of the Chausson (as Barbirolli recalled), "in a voice with all the bloom and tender ache of spring in it...the glory that was hers remained untouched." Munch ushers in the 20th century, declaiming Debussy’s 'Printemps' as a wonderful and sincere tribute to Fauré.
