d'Indy: Poème des Rivages & Symphony No. 1 Iceland Symphony Orchestra & Rumon Gamba

• Vincent d'Indy (1851 - 1931): Poème des Rivages, Op. 77:
• 1 d'Indy: Poème des Rivages, Op. 77: I. Calme et lumière. Agay 11:39
• 2 d'Indy: Poème des Rivages, Op. 77: II. La joie du bleu profond. Miramar de Mallorca 05:39
• 3 d'Indy: Poème des Rivages, Op. 77: III. Horizons verts. Falconara 08:25
• 4 d'Indy: Poème des Rivages, Op. 77: IV. Le mystère de l'Océan. La Grande Côte 14:03
• Symphony No. 1 in A Major, "Symphonie Italienne":
• 5 d'Indy: Symphony No. 1 in A Major, "Symphonie Italienne": I. Rome. Introduction et Allegro 13:15
• 6 d'Indy: Symphony No. 1 in A Major, "Symphonie Italienne": II. Florence. Allegro vivace 05:54
• 7 d'Indy: Symphony No. 1 in A Major, "Symphonie Italienne": III. Venise. Andante sans lenteur 06:44
• 8 d'Indy: Symphony No. 1 in A Major, "Symphonie Italienne": IV. Naples. Allegro ma non troppo 11:07
• Total Runtime 01:16:46

Info for d'Indy: Poème des Rivages & Symphony No. 1

D’Indy was a contemporary of Debussy and Ravel, and a pupil of César Franck. Fauré described him as ‘The Samson of Music’ for his multifarious and generous-minded work as a composer, conductor, educator, and propagandist who greatly strengthened French musical culture. With a style essentially eclectic and strongly influenced above all by Beethoven and Wagner, d’Indy particularly excelled in orchestral composition. He drew particular inspiration from his native region in southern France, and formed a body of post-romantic works richly orchestrated, often inflected with folk-like melodies, and employing Franck’s well-known ‘cyclic method’.

The exclusive Chandos artist Rumon Gamba and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra here return with Volume 4 of Chandos’ highly acclaimed series devoted to these unjustly neglected orchestral works. Of Symphony No. 3 on Volume 3, released in 2010, Classic FM said: ‘Following their first two much-praised discs, Rumon Gamba and the Iceland Symphony further champion the lushly colourful and impressionistic orchestral music of Vincent d’Indy. It’s a fascinating work that mixes straightforward militaristic passages with a high-Romantic, 20th-century language that’s part Expressionist, part Impressionist’.

Symphonie italienne was written when d’Indy was in his late teens. It was strongly inspired by his travels in Italy, and the four movements bear the respective titles ‘Rome’, ‘Florence’, ‘Venice’, and ‘Naples’. Heavily indebted in style to Mendelsohn, Schumann, and Berlioz, this tuneful work was a tremendous if ambitious undertaking for the comparative novice, and shows early signs of the composer’s strong intellectual musical mind.

D’Indy composed the Symphonie Suite Poème des Rivages, his late orchestral masterpiece, in 1919 – 21. It is a work of outstanding technical accomplishment and poetic inspiration, which succeeds in combining the solid post-Franckian structures with the textual and colouristic fluidity of Debussy. The orchestral forces, including four saxophones, create an almost visual impression of light and atmosphere, in the manner of Claude Monet. Its well-received premiere took place in New York on 1 December 1921 under d’Indy’s direction.

"Certainly, the truly excellent Iceland Symphony Orchestra is an ensemble of international standard; Rumon Gamba achieves some highly responsive playing from them, while the richly atmospheric Chandos recording is state-of-the-art." (Gramophone Magazine)

"Rumon Gamba evidently has the measure of this elusive yet powerful work, encouraging a subtlety and finesse from the Iceland Symphony Orchestra...The spacious though detailed sound is arguably the best yet from this source" (International Record Review)

Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Rumon Gamba, conductor

Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1950, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of Iceland and one of the leading institutions on the country's cultural scene. Widely praised for its performances and recordings, the orchestra presents a full season each year of subscription series, school and family concerts, and concerts devoted to modern music. The majority of the orchestra's concerts are broadcast live on radio by the National Broadcasting Service, and selected concerts are televised and streamed live online. The Iceland Symphony is the resident orchestra in Reykjavík's award-winning Harpa Concert Hall.

In September 2020, Eva Ollikainen assumes the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, a role previously held by conductors such as Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ilan Volkov, Rumon Gamba, Petri Sakari, Jean-Pierre Jacquillat and Osmo Vänskä, who currently holds the title of Honorary Conductor. Vladimir Ashkenazy has conducted the orchestra regularly since the 1970s and now holds the position of Conductor Laureate. Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir is the orchestra's Composer-in-Residence, and Icelandic composer-conductor Daníel Bjarnason is Principal Guest Conductor.

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, BIS, Chandos, Naxos, and Sono Luminus. Its wide-ranging international discography includes highly praised cycles of the symphonies of Sibelius and orchestral works by Jón Leifs. The orchestra has also recorded the complete orchestral works of Vincent d'Indy with Rumon Gamba for Chandos. The first volume of the series was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance. One of its most recent releases, of symphonies by Charles Gounod with conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier, was an Editor's Choice in Gramophone and CD of the week in The Sunday Times.

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra has appeared widely throughout Europe and beyond, including performances at the BBC Proms, the Wiener Musikverein, and the Kennedy Center. In 2018 it embarked on a highly successful three-week tour of Japan with Ashkenazy and most recently the orchestra toured Germany and Austria with conductor Daníel Bjarnason and Víkingur Ólafsson. It has also appeared twice in New York's Carnegie Hall. Writing in The New York Times, the critic Alex Ross described the orchestra's performance under Osmo Vänskä as “sensational… one of the finest Sibelius performances I have encountered.”

Rumon Gamba
British conductor Rumon Gamba is Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since January 2022. Previous positions included Principal Conductor and Music Director of NorrlandsOperan (2008-2015); Chief Conductor of the Aalborg Symfoniorkester (2011-2015), and Chief Conductor and Music Director of Iceland Symphony Orchestra (2002-2010). He regularly leads the BBC orchestras and has appeared at the BBC Proms on a number of occasions. ​

A champion of new music, Gamba has given several high profile premieres including the world premieres of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys at English National Opera, Brett Dean’s Viola Concerto with the composer and BBC Symphony Orchestra; national premieres of Poul Ruders’ Dancer in the Dark and Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Blood on the Floor and Scherzoid with NorrlandsOperan and the Australian premiere of the original version of Sibelius’ Symphony No.5 with Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In 2016 he conducted Larsson Gothe’s The African Prophetess with the orchestra of NorrlandsOperan and Cape Town Opera Chorus as part of the Royal Stockholm Orchestras’ composer week. He appeared at the 2017 Enescu Festival with works by Sven Helbig and Rolf Martinsson. Rumon returned to the BBC Proms in 2017 to conduct a BBC commission by Michael Gordon for the jazz ensemble ‘Bang on a Can All-Stars’ together with the Proms Youth Ensemble. He has also collaborated with Ittai Shapira and Lotta Wennäkoski with BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Kymi Sinfonietta respectively. ​

Highlights of Gamba’s recent and future seasons include Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, Helsingborg Philharmonic, Romanian Radio Symphony, Madeconian Phiharmonic, Goteborgs Symfoniker, Ulster Orchestra and WDR Funkhausorchester; a concert performance with Wermland Opera in Karlstad, and several concerts and recordings with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. ​

Rumon Gamba has conducted a number of operatic titles including Rigoletto at Scottish Opera, Carmen, La bohème, Otello, and Candide. In celebration of Umeå’s status as European Capital of Culture 2014, he conducted NorrlandsOperan in an epic outdoor production of Elektra with La Fura dels Baus which was critically acclaimed. With both NorrlandsOperan and Aalborg Symfoniorkester, Gamba continued his popular late night concerts aimed at young adults which he first introduced whilst at Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Next season he will conduct The Magic Flute for Oulu Opera, and future projects include a ballet double bill for Finnish National Opera.

Rumon Gamba has recorded exclusively with Chandos Records for over 20 years. His projects include a series of D’Indy’s orchestral works with the Iceland Symphony, the first of which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Other recordings include works by the Swedish composer Dag Wirén: British Overtures and Tone Poems with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as works by Malcolm Williamson, Malcom Arnold and Milòs Ròzsa. Recent projects include a Ruth Gipps recording with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and a recording of Finnish overtures with the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. ​

Gamba studied with Colin Metters at the Royal Academy of Music and became the first conducting student to receive the DipRAM. He won the Lloyds Bank BBC Young Musicians Conductors Workshop in February 1998, and then became Assistant and then Associate Conductor to the BBC Philharmonic, a post he held until 2002. The Royal Academy of Music recognised his contribution to music when they made him an Associate that same year. In 2017, he became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.

Booklet for d'Indy: Poème des Rivages & Symphony No. 1