Ensemble Vocale Polimnia / Cassin - R. Schumann & Faure: Roseti Del Mare [CD]

Two metaphors intertwine in the Roseti del mare (Rose gardens of the sea). The rose garden is the shared place, the multifaceted, multicoloured, thorny and delicate project that well embodies the evolutionarydrive of the young performers of Polimnia. The enigmatic vastness of the sea provides the setting in the consolidatedrepertoire of many great composers. It's presence is manifest in Robert Schumann's Romanzen fur Frauenstimmen (Meerfey,Der Wassermann, In Meeres Mitten), and it recurs in the choices of numerous French composers (for example, in C. Debussy'sLa Mer), a trait that clearly re-sonates in the fluid and elegant writing of Gabriel Faure featured here. Across it's surface, thesea incarnates the spontaneity, luminosity, and immediacy of Faure's invention, while in it's depths resides the Schumannianstyle, introspective and severe, directing it's gaze towards Reflection and the layering of Thought. With the Polimnia vocal ensemble,I chose to work on a challenging project, far removed from easy transcriptions or more straightforward choral adaptations. For all of us, it was like going out into the open sea, with no footholds or furrows of well-trodden routes. A treacherousjourney, devoid of certainties yet full of opportunities for a totally shared research into the meanings and sounds expressedby the young performers already rich in their own time, ranging from 17 to 25 years of age. The fact that young is not an adjectiveto be equated with superficial is the conviction I have matured in my long experience as director of the children'schoir from which the Polimnia Ensemble almost entirely originates. The result we have achieved is the impetus that moves ustowards new challenges, new future projects. Claudio Fenoglio