1923 – The Mirror of Jesus

“Le miroir de Jésus” (The Mirror of Jesus) for mezzo-soprano, female choir, strings and harp is the last major work composed by the French composer André Caplet in 1923, based on 15 poems by the French writer Henri Ghéon. This mystical work, whose form and genre elude standard categorizations, revolves around the most important milestones in the life of Jesus, told from the perspective of the Virgin Mary, sung by a mezzo-soprano. Each of the three parts consists of an extended instrumental Prélude and five episodes. A choir introduces the respective title of the poem and also stands out in a few, but all the more significant, places. This album offers a live recording of concerts that took place on April 4 and 5, 2019, at the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Munich, featuring a top-class cast with Anke Vondung (mezzo-soprano), the Bavarian Radio Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Howard Arman. The CD is being released as part of the thematic focus on “100 Years of Radio,” which shows how formative the sound of this century was: the age of radio began in 1923 amidst social upheaval. The music composed for the new medium reflects the era between modernism and tradition, revolution and republic, jazz and dance music.