Two works by Fabrice Bollon | Discover now at Naxos

‘Die ungebornen Enkel is my first ever composition for classical singers and solo electric cello. The poems of Georg Trakl bring an incredible atmosphere of love, depression, ecstasy and folly, typical of poetry from the beginning of the 20th century.

The electric cello is used in the manner of a full orchestra, and almost replicates its sound. Johannes Moser plays it like no other cellist in the world, using complex electronic devices which present plenty of possibilities; and the two singers perform their parts like great Schubert Lieder, with enormous delicacy and beauty.’

– Fabrice Bollon

BOLLON, F.: Ungebornen Enkel (Die) / The Secret Garden of the Cordania

8.574456

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Fabrice BOLLON (b. 1965)
Die ungebornen Enkel *
(‘The Unborn Grandchildren’)
The Secret Garden of the Cordania

Irina Jae-Eun Park, Soprano *
Nutthaporn Thammathi, Tenor *
Johannes Moser, Electric cello

This setting of Austrian Expressionist writer Georg Trakl’s poems by composer and conductor Fabrice Bollon is the first ever composition for classical singers and solo electric cello. As a result the work’s striking sonorities open unexpected and fascinating new directions for contemporary music. Evocative imagery and colourful writing for electric cello can also be heard in The Secret Garden of the Cordania – a work dedicated to Bollon’s cellist wife.

Listen to an extract from Die ungebornen Enkel:
No. 6. Am Rand eines Wassers

About the Artists

Conductor/composer Fabrice Bollon has served as general music director/chief conductor of Germany’s Theater Freiburg since 2009, where his work has garnered international acclaim, including Editor’s Choice accolades in Gramophone magazine and Diapason d’Or Awards. He has been chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Halle and general music director of the Halle Opera since August 2022. He is also an acclaimed composer, whose output includes the opera Oscar und die Dame in Rosa; his 2020 Naxos album of original compositions (8.574015) received a Choc de Classica award and an ICMA nomination.

South Korean soprano Irina Jae-Eun Park joined the ensemble of Theater Freiburg in 2018 after two seasons in the opera studio, collaborating with Fabrice Bollon in productions of Madama Butterfly (title role), Falstaff (Alice Ford), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Antonia) and The Cunning Little Vixen (Fox); also in Cendrillon (Noémie) and Hulda (Swanhilde), both of which were subsequently released on the Naxos label.

Tenor Nutthaporn Thammathi has performed in opera houses across Europe since 2015, appearing in numerous leading roles such as Rodolfo (La bohème), Tito (La clemenza di Tito), Alfredo (La traviata), Cavaradossi (Tosca) and the title role in Faust. In 2019 Thammathi became a member of the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.

German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the world’s leading orchestras under eminent conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta and many others. His continuing artistic partnership with Fabrice Bollon has lasted for over a decade and has resulted in many new compositions for electric cello, including Four Lessons of Darkness – Concerto for Electric Cello and Orchestra, premiered in 2011 and released on Naxos (8.574015).

More albums featuring Fabrice Bollon

8.574015

BOLLON, F.:
Your Voice Out of the Lamb
Four Lessons of Darkness • Dogmatic Pleasures
Petri • Salo • Fukačová • Moser • Odense Symphony Orchestra • Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg • Deutsche Radio Philharmonie • Poppen • Milton • Bignamini

‘Fabrice Bollon infuses jazz, electro and pop in high symphonic form… Recognised as a talented and versatile conductor, Fabrice Bollon also devotes himself with singular originality to composition.’
– Classica

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8.660410-12

KORNGOLD, E.W.:
Das Wunder der Heliane
Kremer • Argiris • Storey • Hebelková • Van Hove • Thammathi • Hanczár • Choirs of the Theater Freiburg • Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg • Bollon

★★★★★

★★★★

‘Bollon is adept at gauging the dramatic temperature and pacing matters to best effect. What seemed a curiosity, now feels like a viable music drama.’
– Limelight ★★★★★

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8.660480-82

FRANCK, C.:
Hulda
(Opera in 5 Acts)
Miller • Kohl • Park • Jung • Hebelková • Seok Lee • Yang • Gionfriddo • Lee • Koo • Carpenter • Schäfer • Cecconi • Choirs of the Theater Freiburg • Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg • Bollon

★★★★★

‘This world premiere recording of the composer’s original version belongs in the collection of everyone who loves this composer. Naxos and Fabrice Bollon deserve a huge round of applause for making it available in such a persuasive performance.’
– ClassicsToday.com

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8.574083

MAGNARD, A.:
Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2
Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg • Bollon

★★★★★

‘Bollon and his orchestra have the full measure of these captivating scores.’
– Fanfare

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Fabrice BOLLON (b. 1965) Die ungebornen Enkel * (‘The Unborn Grandchildren’) The Secret Garden of the Cordania

Fabrice BOLLON (b. 1965)
Die ungebornen Enkel *
(‘The Unborn Grandchildren’)
The Secret Garden of the Cordania