Former Scottish Opera Emerging Artist, Margo Arsane, performs in a new recording of Chausson’s song cycle for voice and orchestra, Poème de l'amour et de la mer. Recorded this summer on the stage of Theatre Royal Glasgow, our Music Director, Stuart Stratford, conducts the French mezzo soprano and The Orchestra of Scottish Opera.
Margo will soon be seen by audiences in the Spring 2022 Opera Highlights tour, having performed previously in our filmed and live performances of Così fan tutte. She prepared for the Chausson recording during lockdown.
Margo said: ‘It was such a joy to lose myself in this wonderful music and text, particularly as it is in French, my mother tongue. From a vocal perspective, this was also the biggest repertoire I’d had a chance to work on so far, and the further I went into the preparation process the more I noticed how freeing this music was for my voice. It felt very organic, and I think it really gave me a chance to grow technically and as an artist. It was such an honour to record this piece on the beautiful stage of Theatre Royal in Glasgow, and to do so with the Scottish Opera Orchestra and Stuart Stratford - their palpable joy of making music together, and the support I felt from them made the recording process such a unique and memorable experience. A singer’s dream!’
French composer Ernest Chausson completed Poème de l'amour et de la mer over ten years between 1882 and 1892, and it premiered on 21 February 1893. The work consists of three parts, the first and final with the singer and the middle an orchestral interlude. The text is taken from three poems by Maurice Bouchor, Chausson’s friend and sometime collaborator.
To listen to the recording, visit: www.scottishopera.org.uk/discover-opera/poeme-de-lamour-et-de-la-mer/