Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)

By the time of his death in 1924, Gabriel Faure was venerated as the grand old man of French music.

Yet today much of his output is neglected, and he is eclipsed by his better-known contemporaries Debussy and Ravel.

Donald Macleod explores Faure's songs and chamber music, discovering some forgotten gems along the way.This programme includes the First Violin Sonata, which launched Faure onto the road to recognition and landed him an important publishing contract on a zero-per cent royalty!

Clair de lune (Moonlight), Op 46, No 2

Felicity Lott (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Puisqu'ici-bas toute ame (Since here on earth each soul), Op 10, No 1; Tarentelle, Op 10, No 2

Geraldine McGreevy, Stella Doufexis (soprano)

Nocturnes Nos 1-3 for piano, Op 33

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Sonata No 1 for violin and piano, Op 13

Pierre Amoyal (violin)

Pacal Roge (piano)

By the time of his death in 1924, Gabriel Fauré was venerated as the grand old man of French music.

Donald Macleod explores Fauré's songs and chamber music, discovering some forgotten gems along the way.This programme includes the First Violin Sonata, which launched Fauré onto the road to recognition and landed him an important publishing contract on a zero-percent royalty!

Geraldine McGreevy, Stella Doufexis (sopranos)

By the time of his death in 1924, Gabriel Faure was venerated as the grand old man of French music.

Yet today much of his output is neglected, and he is eclipsed by his better-known contemporaries Debussy and Ravel.

Donald Macleod explores Faure's songs and chamber music, discovering some forgotten gems along the way.This programme includes the First Violin Sonata, which launched Faure onto the road to recognition and landed him an important publishing contract on a zero-per cent royalty!

Clair de lune (Moonlight), Op 46, No 2

Felicity Lott (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Puisqu'ici-bas toute ame (Since here on earth each soul), Op 10, No 1; Tarentelle, Op 10, No 2

Geraldine McGreevy, Stella Doufexis (soprano)

Nocturnes Nos 1-3 for piano, Op 33

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Sonata No 1 for violin and piano, Op 13

Pierre Amoyal (violin)

Pacal Roge (piano)

By the time of his death in 1924, Gabriel Fauré was venerated as the grand old man of French music.

Yet today much of his output is neglected, and he is eclipsed by his better-known contemporaries Debussy and Ravel.

Donald Macleod explores Fauré's songs and chamber music, discovering some forgotten gems along the way.This programme includes the First Violin Sonata, which launched Fauré onto the road to recognition and landed him an important publishing contract on a zero-percent royalty!

Clair de lune (Moonlight), Op 46 No 2

Felicity Lott (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Puisqu'ici-bas toute ame (Since here on earth each soul), Op 10 No 1; Tarentelle, Op 10 No 2

Geraldine McGreevy, Stella Doufexis (sopranos)

Nocturnes Nos 1-3 for piano, Op 33

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Sonata No 1 for violin and piano, Op 13

Pierre Amoyal (violin)

Pacal Roge (piano).

Donald Macleod travels to Paris to chart the life of Gabriel Fauré. He's joined by the composer's English biographer Jessica Duchen, pianist Billy Eidi, and the leading authority on Fauré's music Jean-Michel Nectoux.

Listen to his work and you'd think he was the perfect Parisian gentleman. Fauré's music is the epitome of charm, of a Gallic gentleman's reserve. There's nothing offensive, only page after page of utter beauty and ravishing melody. But look into his eyes and you get hints of another story: those dark orbs of a deep-thinking southerner, a man who always struggled for recognition, but who never lost the ability to seduce a lady.

This week Donald Macleod is in Paris to follow Fauré's footsteps, and to probe this most enigmatic of personalities. From the start, Fauré is an outsider. Sent by his family to study at a school for gifted youngsters, the composer quickly decides that the traditional route is not for him. Instead of heading to the conservatoire, dogged by its reputation for fustiness, he falls in with the world of aristocratic music-making. And at the former home of singer Pauline Viardot, Donald Macleod rediscovers something of the allure for Fauré, not just musical opportunities but also the attraction of a highly cultured lady in the form of Viardot's daughter.

We soon discover that this is a template for the composer's life. A few blocks away we take a look inside one of the city's stunning former musical salons. Here, Winnaretta Singer, daughter of the sewing machine king, hosted the likes of Marcel Proust and Georges Sand. Fauré too was a regular, and even embarked on a dramatic work for the salon with legendary writer Paul Verlaine. It was to be ill-fated though: Verlaine succumbed spectacularly to drink and his plots became so off-the-wall that Fauré had to abandon his project.

There are more refined moments too. In the ever-controversial church of La Madeleine, at once a tribute to the revolution and a souped-up banking hall cum railway station, we find the inspiration of Fauré's most famous work, the Requiem, in the death of a local architect, the passing of the composer's own father, and the astounding acoustics of the building itself.

But it's in the equally echoey hallways of the Paris Conservatoire buildings where we get closest to the real Fauré. It took an internal scandal before they would let him in, but here at last Fauré gets a chance to cement his reputation as a member of the French establishment as director of the institution. Here we find the very room where he had his office, and (in the Salle Fauré) the stage where he would take performance exams, and even an ante-room solely for students to pull themselves together or recover their shattered composure before and after playing to the great man.

Donald Macleod begins his week in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, at Passy Cemetery, where Fauré is buried with family members, friends, and leading cultural figures. Together with writer Jessica Duchen he charts the complex web of personalities in the composer's early life, including a formative bond with the musician Camille Saint-Saëns which at times seemingly bordered on the sexual.

Donald Macleod charts the complex web of personalities in Faure's early life.

Donald Macleod travels to Paris to chart the life of Gabriel Fauré.

He's joined by the composer's English biographer Jessica Duchen, pianist Billy Eidi, and the leading authority on Fauré's music Jean-Michel Nectoux.

Listen to his work and you'd think he was the perfect Parisian gentleman.

Fauré's music is the epitome of charm, of a Gallic gentleman's reserve.

There's nothing offensive, only page after page of utter beauty and ravishing melody.

But look into his eyes and you get hints of another story: those dark orbs of a deep-thinking southerner, a man who always struggled for recognition, but who never lost the ability to seduce a lady.

This week Donald Macleod is in Paris to follow Fauré's footsteps, and to probe this most enigmatic of personalities.

From the start, Fauré is an outsider.

Sent by his family to study at a school for gifted youngsters, the composer quickly decides that the traditional route is not for him.

Instead of heading to the conservatoire, dogged by its reputation for fustiness, he falls in with the world of aristocratic music-making.

And at the former home of singer Pauline Viardot, Donald Macleod rediscovers something of the allure for Fauré, not just musical opportunities but also the attraction of a highly cultured lady in the form of Viardot's daughter.

We soon discover that this is a template for the composer's life.

A few blocks away we take a look inside one of the city's stunning former musical salons.

Here, Winnaretta Singer, daughter of the sewing machine king, hosted the likes of Marcel Proust and Georges Sand.

Fauré too was a regular, and even embarked on a dramatic work for the salon with legendary writer Paul Verlaine.

It was to be ill-fated though: Verlaine succumbed spectacularly to drink and his plots became so off-the-wall that Fauré had to abandon his project.

There are more refined moments too.

In the ever-controversial church of La Madeleine, at once a tribute to the revolution and a souped-up banking hall cum railway station, we find the inspiration of Fauré's most famous work, the Requiem, in the death of a local architect, the passing of the composer's own father, and the astounding acoustics of the building itself.

But it's in the equally echoey hallways of the Paris Conservatoire buildings where we get closest to the real Fauré.

It took an internal scandal before they would let him in, but here at last Fauré gets a chance to cement his reputation as a member of the French establishment as director of the institution.

Here we find the very room where he had his office, and (in the Salle Fauré) the stage where he would take performance exams, and even an ante-room solely for students to pull themselves together or recover their shattered composure before and after playing to the great man.

Donald Macleod begins his week in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, at Passy Cemetery, where Fauré is buried with family members, friends, and leading cultural figures.

Together with writer Jessica Duchen he charts the complex web of personalities in the composer's early life, including a formative bond with the musician Camille Saint-Saëns which at times seemingly bordered on the sexual.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, inspired by his passion for Wagner, Fauré embarks on his long search for a decent libretto.

"Take lots of handkerchiefs, because you will cry a great deal! Also take a sedative, because you will be exalted to the point of delirium!" - Fauré's advice to anyone intending to take a trip to Bayreuth, the shrine of Wagnerian music-drama. In time, Fauré's love of Wagner abated somewhat, but that did nothing to diminish his desire to write an opera of his own - if only he could find a collaborator.

Berceuse (Dolly, Op 56)

Eric Le Sage, Alexandre Tharaud, piano duet

Souvenirs de Bayreuth, Op posth

Eric Le Sage, Alexandre Tharaud, piano duet

Caligula - incidental music, Op 52

Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse

Michel Plasson, conductor

'Spleen' (4 Songs, Op 51)

Gérard Souzay, baritone

Dalton Baldwin, piano

'La Rose' (4 Songs, Op 51)

Elly Ameling, soprano

Dalton Baldwin, piano

Shylock (incidental music) - Suite, Op 57

Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse

Michel Plasson, conductor

Producer: Chris Barstow.

How, inspired by his passion for Wagner, Faure began his long search for a good libretto.

How, inspired by his passion for Wagner, Faure began his long search for a good libretto.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, inspired by his passion for Wagner, Fauré embarks on his long search for a decent libretto.

"Take lots of handkerchiefs, because you will cry a great deal! Also take a sedative, because you will be exalted to the point of delirium!" - Fauré's advice to anyone intending to take a trip to Bayreuth, the shrine of Wagnerian music-drama. In time, Fauré's love of Wagner abated somewhat, but that did nothing to diminish his desire to write an opera of his own - if only he could find a collaborator.

Berceuse (Dolly, Op 56)

Eric Le Sage, Alexandre Tharaud, piano duet

Souvenirs de Bayreuth, Op posth

Caligula - incidental music, Op 52

Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse

Michel Plasson, conductor

'Spleen' (4 Songs, Op 51)

Gérard Souzay, baritone

Dalton Baldwin, piano

'La Rose' (4 Songs, Op 51)

Elly Ameling, soprano

Shylock (incidental music) - Suite, Op 57

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod explores Fauré's songs and chamber music, discovering some forgotten gems along the way.

2/5.

Fauré meets Liszt, inspires Proust and chooses a wife by a rather unconventional method.

Nell, Op 18 No 1

Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (tenor)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Ballade pour piano seul, Op 19

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Papillon for cello and piano, Op 77

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

Quartet No 2 for piano, violin, viola and cello, Op 45

Susan Tomes (piano)

Krysia Osostowicz (violin)

Robin Ireland (viola)

Timothy Hugh (cello).

Donald Macleod explores Fauré's songs and chamber music, discovering some forgotten gems along the way.

2/5.

Fauré meets Liszt, inspires Proust and chooses a wife by a rather unconventional method.

Nell, Op 18 No 1

Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (tenor)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Ballade pour piano seul, Op 19

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Papillon for cello and piano, Op 77

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

Quartet No 2 for piano, violin, viola and cello, Op 45

Susan Tomes (piano)

Krysia Osostowicz (violin)

Robin Ireland (viola)

Timothy Hugh (cello).

Faure meets Liszt, inspires Proust and chooses a wife by a rather unconventional method.

Nell, Op 18 No 1

Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (tenor)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Ballade pour piano seul, Op 19

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Papillon for cello and piano, Op 77

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

Quartet No 2 for piano, violin, viola and cello, Op 45

Susan Tomes (piano)

Krysia Osostowicz (violin)

Robin Ireland (viola)

Timothy Hugh (cello)

Donald Macleod follows Faure's work at the controversial Parisian church of La Madeleine.

Donald Macleod follows the composer's footsteps into the ever-controversial Parisian church of La Madeleine, adopted by Napoleon as tribute to the Revolution, and with architectural qualities halfway between cathedral and grand railway station.

Nonetheless the building inspired Fauré to create his greatest masterpiece, his Requiem, written for the funeral of a Parisian architect.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, a failed collaboration; a professorship; and Fauré makes his mark in London.

A 25,000-franc commission to create a music drama for the inauguration of a wealthy heiress's magnificent new music room, with one of the century's most celebrated poets as your librettist - what could possibly go wrong? In the event, the project barely got off the starting-blocks. Despite the good offices of the Princesse de Polignac - a.k.a. Winnaretta Singer, heiress to the sewing-machine fortune - Fauré couldn't even agree on a subject with the eminent but ailing Paul Verlaine. So no collaboration, but Fauré did go on to set some of Verlaine's poetry to music - his song-cycle La bonne chanson, which charts the course of a perfect, immutable love, being a marvellous example. Love of the doomed, catastrophic kind was the subject-matter of Maurice Maeterlinck's play Pelléas et Mélisande, and it drew from Fauré some of his most touching music, commissioned for a London production in 1898.

Sérénade du Bourgeois Gentilhomme ('Je languis nuit et jour')

Gérard Souzay, baritone

Dalton Baldwin, piano

La bonne chanson, Op 61

Karine Deshayes, mezzo-soprano

Ensemble Contraste

Fantaisie for flute and piano, Op 79

Michel Debost, flute

Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

Pélleas et Mélisande - Suite, Op 80

Jill Gomez, soprano

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

David Zinman, conductor

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Including a failed collaboration, a professorship and Faure making his mark in London.

Including a failed collaboration, a professorship and Faure making his mark in London.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, a failed collaboration; a professorship; and Fauré makes his mark in London.

A 25,000-franc commission to create a music drama for the inauguration of a wealthy heiress's magnificent new music room, with one of the century's most celebrated poets as your librettist - what could possibly go wrong? In the event, the project barely got off the starting-blocks. Despite the good offices of the Princesse de Polignac - a.k.a. Winnaretta Singer, heiress to the sewing-machine fortune - Fauré couldn't even agree on a subject with the eminent but ailing Paul Verlaine. So no collaboration, but Fauré did go on to set some of Verlaine's poetry to music - his song-cycle La bonne chanson, which charts the course of a perfect, immutable love, being a marvellous example. Love of the doomed, catastrophic kind was the subject-matter of Maurice Maeterlinck's play Pelléas et Mélisande, and it drew from Fauré some of his most touching music, commissioned for a London production in 1898.

Sérénade du Bourgeois Gentilhomme ('Je languis nuit et jour')

Gérard Souzay, baritone

Dalton Baldwin, piano

La bonne chanson, Op 61

Karine Deshayes, mezzo-soprano

Ensemble Contraste

Fantaisie for flute and piano, Op 79

Michel Debost, flute

Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

Pélleas et Mélisande - Suite, Op 80

Jill Gomez, soprano

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

David Zinman, conductor

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod follows the composer's footsteps into the ever-controversial Parisian church of La Madeleine, adopted by Napoleon as tribute to the Revolution, and with architectural qualities halfway between cathedral and grand railway station. Nonetheless the building inspired Fauré to create his greatest masterpiece, his Requiem, written for the funeral of a Parisian architect.

Donald Macleod follows Faure's work at the controversial Parisian church of La Madeleine.

Donald Macleod follows the composer's footsteps into the ever-controversial Parisian church of La Madeleine, adopted by Napoleon as tribute to the Revolution, and with architectural qualities halfway between cathedral and grand railway station.

Nonetheless the building inspired Fauré to create his greatest masterpiece, his Requiem, written for the funeral of a Parisian architect.

In this programme Donald MacLeod discusses Gabriel Fauré's love life and the affect it had on his music.

Après un rêve, Opus 7, No 1

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo soprano)

Geoffrey Parsons (pianos)

Dolly Suite for piano duet

Katia and Marielle Labèque (pianos)

Piano Quintet No 2, Op 115

Domus and Anthony Marwood (pianos).

In this programme Donald MacLeod discusses Gabriel Fauré's love life and the affect it had on his music.

Après un rêve, Opus 7, No 1

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo soprano)

Geoffrey Parsons (pianos)

Dolly Suite for piano duet

Katia and Marielle Labèque (pianos)

Piano Quintet No 2, Op 115

Domus and Anthony Marwood (pianos).

The composer turns 40, discovers Verlaine, overcomes depression and starts an affair.

With two major song-cycles of Faure's middle years, La bonne chanson and La chanson d'Eve.

Spleen, Op 51 No 3

Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)

Geoffrey Parsons (piano)

La bonne chanson, Op 61

Christopher Maltman (baritone)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Sicilienne for cello and piano, Op 78

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

La chanson d'Eve, Op 95

The composer turns 40, discovers Verlaine, overcomes depression and starts an affair.

With two major song-cycles of Fauré's middle years, La bonne chanson and La chanson d'Eve.

Spleen, Op 51 No 3

Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)

Geoffrey Parsons (piano)

La bonne chanson, Op 61

Christopher Maltman (baritone)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Sicilienne for cello and piano, Op 78

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

La chanson d'Eve, Op 95

The composer turns 40, discovers Verlaine, overcomes depression and starts an affair.

With two major song-cycles of Faure's middle years, La bonne chanson and La chanson d'Eve.

Spleen, Op 51 No 3

Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)

Geoffrey Parsons (piano)

La bonne chanson, Op 61

Christopher Maltman (baritone)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Sicilienne for cello and piano, Op 78

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

La chanson d'Eve, Op 95

With two major song-cycles of Fauré's middle years, La bonne chanson and La chanson d'Eve.

How did the world's greatest sewing machine entrepreneur come to have a defining influence on the life of Gabriel Fauré? Donald Macleod travels to Paris and gets rare access to one of the city's glorious musical salons to find out more from Jean-Michel Nectoux, leading authority on the composer's music.

Donald Macleod visits the Parisian salons to learn more about the life of Faure.

How did the world's greatest sewing machine entrepreneur come to have a defining influence on the life of Gabriel Fauré? Donald Macleod travels to Paris and gets rare access to one of the city's glorious musical salons to find out more from Jean-Michel Nectoux, leading authority on the composer's music.

Nocturne no.2 in B major

Pascal Rogé (piano)

Pavane

BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor)

Souvenirs de Bayreuth

Kathryn Stott (piano), Martin Roscoe (piano)

Cinq Mélodies "de Venise": Green, C'est l'extase

Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto), Catherine Collard (piano)

Violin Sonata no.1

Isabelle Faust (violin), Florent Boffard (piano).

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, Fauré takes his first stab at opera; starts an affair; and pimps his Requiem.

When Fauré received his first commission for an opera, to be produced in the summer of 1900, it must have felt long overdue - he'd been on the lookout for a suitable libretto for the previous couple of decades. The invitation came not from a conventional opera house but from the town of Béziers, in the Languedoc, famous for bullfights and wine but with no reputation, thus far, for music-drama. A local bigwig had built an enormous Roman-style amphitheatre there, with the intention of staging open-air operas on themes of classical antiquity to audiences of 10,000. Fauré's lyric tragedy Prométhée, about the Titan who brought fire to mankind, was a huge success. Fire was kindled offstage too, when the 55-year-old Fauré met Marguerite Hasselmans, the 24-year-old daughter of one of his Paris Conservatoire colleagues. A relationship ignited which was to stay alight until Fauré's own flame was extinguished a quarter of a century later. While he was working on Prométhée, Fauré also oversaw the rescoring of his famous Requiem for full orchestra - the version in which it's usually heard today, and which, in time, provided the soundtrack to his own funeral.

Capriccio in E flat (8 pièces brèves, Op 84)

Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

Prométhée (Act 3, Prelude and Chorus of the Oceanides)

Choeur Maîtrise Gabriel Fauré

Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo

Roger Norrington, conductor

Ballade, Op 19 (version for piano and orchestra)

Valerie Tryon, piano

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Jac Van Steen, conductor

Requiem, Op 48 - version for full orch

(Introit, Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, In Paradisum)

Johannette Zomer, soprano

La Chapelle Royale

Collegium Vocale Gent

Orchestre des Champs-Élysées

Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Producer: Chris Barstow.

With Faure's first stab at opera, his starting an affair and the rescoring of his Requiem.

With Faure's first stab at opera, his starting an affair and the rescoring of his Requiem.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, Fauré takes his first stab at opera; starts an affair; and pimps his Requiem.

When Fauré received his first commission for an opera, to be produced in the summer of 1900, it must have felt long overdue - he'd been on the lookout for a suitable libretto for the previous couple of decades. The invitation came not from a conventional opera house but from the town of Béziers, in the Languedoc, famous for bullfights and wine but with no reputation, thus far, for music-drama. A local bigwig had built an enormous Roman-style amphitheatre there, with the intention of staging open-air operas on themes of classical antiquity to audiences of 10,000. Fauré's lyric tragedy Prométhée, about the Titan who brought fire to mankind, was a huge success. Fire was kindled offstage too, when the 55-year-old Fauré met Marguerite Hasselmans, the 24-year-old daughter of one of his Paris Conservatoire colleagues. A relationship ignited which was to stay alight until Fauré's own flame was extinguished a quarter of a century later. While he was working on Prométhée, Fauré also oversaw the rescoring of his famous Requiem for full orchestra - the version in which it's usually heard today, and which, in time, provided the soundtrack to his own funeral.

Capriccio in E flat (8 pièces brèves, Op 84)

Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

Prométhée (Act 3, Prelude and Chorus of the Oceanides)

Choeur Maîtrise Gabriel Fauré

Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo

Roger Norrington, conductor

Ballade, Op 19 (version for piano and orchestra)

Valerie Tryon, piano

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Jac Van Steen, conductor

Requiem, Op 48 - version for full orch

(Introit, Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, In Paradisum)

Johannette Zomer, soprano

La Chapelle Royale

Collegium Vocale Gent

Orchestre des Champs-Élysées

Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Producer: Chris Barstow.

He examines how the composer coped with the large-scale tragedy of the First World War and the personal tragedy of his own worsening deafness.

Faure responded with some of his finest chamber music to date, including two great instrumental sonatas: his Second Violin and First Cello sonatas.

Exaucement (Le jardin clos), Op 106, No 1

Jennifer Smith (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Nocturne No 12 for piano, Op 107

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Sonata No 2 for violin and piano, Op 108

Isabelle Faust (violin)

Florent Boffard (piano)

Une Chatelaine en sa tour for harp, Op 110

Ieuan Jones (harp)

Sonata No 1 for cello and piano, Op 109

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

He examines how the composer coped with the large-scale tragedy of World War I and the personal tragedy of his own worsening deafness.

Fauré responded with some of his finest chamber music to date, including two great instrumental sonatas: his Second Violin and First Cello sonatas.

He examines how the composer coped with the large-scale tragedy of the First World War and the personal tragedy of his own worsening deafness.

Faure responded with some of his finest chamber music to date, including two great instrumental sonatas: his Second Violin and First Cello sonatas.

Exaucement (Le jardin clos), Op 106, No 1

Jennifer Smith (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Nocturne No 12 for piano, Op 107

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Sonata No 2 for violin and piano, Op 108

Isabelle Faust (violin)

Florent Boffard (piano)

Une Chatelaine en sa tour for harp, Op 110

Ieuan Jones (harp)

Sonata No 1 for cello and piano, Op 109

Steven Isserlis (cello)

Pascal Devoyon (piano)

He examines how the composer coped with the large-scale tragedy of World War I and the personal tragedy of his own worsening deafness.

Fauré responded with some of his finest chamber music to date, including two great instrumental sonatas: his Second Violin and First Cello sonatas.

The top brass did their best to keep him out, and it took a scandal to do it, but eventually Gabriel Fauré got the job which brought him the status and recognition he'd always wanted: directorship of the Paris Conservatoire. Donald Macleod makes his way to the very office where Fauré masterminded the institution's reinvention, joined by the composer's biographer Jessica Duchen.

Donald Macleod explores how Faure finally attained the job he had always sought.

The top brass did their best to keep him out, and it took a scandal to do it, but eventually Gabriel Fauré got the job which brought him the status and recognition he'd always wanted: directorship of the Paris Conservatoire.

Donald Macleod makes his way to the very office where Fauré masterminded the institution's reinvention, joined by the composer's biographer Jessica Duchen.

Morceau de Lecture

Kathryn Thomas (flute), Richard Shaw (piano)

Pelléas et Mélisande: Prélude

L'Orchestre Symphonique Français, Laurent Petitgirard (conductor)

Schmitt: Hommage à Gabriel Fauré

Margaret Fingerhut (piano)

Impromptu no.5

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Le Chanson d'Eve: Paradis

Marilyn Schmiege (mezzo-soprano), Donald Sulzen (piano)

Pénélope: End of Act III (scenes 6-7)

Alain Vanzo (tenor - Ulysse), Jessye Norman (soprano - Pénélope), Jocelyne Taillon (mezzo-soprano - Euryclée), José van Dam (bass - Eumée), Ensemble Vocal Jean Laforge, Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit (conductor)

Ballade

Donald Macleod explores how Faure finally attained the job he had always sought.

The top brass did their best to keep him out, and it took a scandal to do it, but eventually Gabriel Fauré got the job which brought him the status and recognition he'd always wanted: directorship of the Paris Conservatoire. Donald Macleod makes his way to the very office where Fauré masterminded the institution's reinvention, joined by the composer's biographer Jessica Duchen.

The top brass did their best to keep him out, and it took a scandal to do it, but eventually Gabriel Fauré got the job which brought him the status and recognition he'd always wanted: directorship of the Paris Conservatoire.

Donald Macleod makes his way to the very office where Fauré masterminded the institution's reinvention, joined by the composer's biographer Jessica Duchen.

Morceau de Lecture

Kathryn Thomas (flute), Richard Shaw (piano)

Pelléas et Mélisande: Prélude

L'Orchestre Symphonique Français, Laurent Petitgirard (conductor)

Schmitt: Hommage à Gabriel Fauré

Margaret Fingerhut (piano)

Impromptu no.5

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Le Chanson d'Eve: Paradis

Marilyn Schmiege (mezzo-soprano), Donald Sulzen (piano)

Pénélope: End of Act III (scenes 6-7)

Alain Vanzo (tenor - Ulysse), Jessye Norman (soprano - Pénélope), Jocelyne Taillon (mezzo-soprano - Euryclée), José van Dam (bass - Eumée), Ensemble Vocal Jean Laforge, Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit (conductor)

Ballade

Donald Macleod explores how Faure finally attained the job he had always sought.

How, after years of waiting, Faure was granted his heart's desire: a suitable libretto.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, after years of waiting, Fauré is granted his heart's desire - a settable libretto.

Fauré's operatic ambitions dated back to his early 30s, but it was not till his mid-60s that opportunity finally knocked and presented him with the young playwright René Fauchois, who would give him the means to turn his dream into reality. Fauchois had just finished a piece called Pénélope about the relentlessly faithful wife of the hero Ulysses, who in the days before SatNav took 10 years to reach home after the Trojan War. Perhaps Fauré saw himself as a kind of musical Ulysses, but for whatever reason, the scenario stimulated his creative juices for the five years it took him to complete the opera - a magnificent and, these days, sadly neglected work. Aside from Penelope, another important woman in Fauré's life at this time was Marguerite Long - the pianist who became his greatest champion. As Director of the Paris Conservatoire, Fauré denied her the position of Professor of Piano (Alfred Cortot got the job), but despite any personal animosity she may have felt, long retained a lifelong loyalty to his music.

Impromptu No 5 in F sharp minor, Op 102

Marguerite Long, piano

Pénélope; Act 1 scenes 7-10

Jessye Norman, soprano (Pénélope)

Philippe Huttenlocher, baritone (Eurymaque)

Gérard Friedmann, tenor (Léodès)

Jean Dupouy, tenor (Antinoüs)

Alain Vanzo, tenor (Ulysse)

Jocelyne Taillon, mezzo-soprano (Euryclée)

Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo

Charles Dutoit, conductor

Nocturne No 6 in D flat, Op 63

Pénélope (Act 2, scene 2)

Jessye Norman, soprano (Penelope)

José van Dam, bass (Eumaeus)

Preludes, Op 103 (No 2 in C sharp minor; No 6 in E flat minor; No 4 in F)

Kathryn Stott, piano

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, whimsy, influenza, a close shave with bankruptcy and a late, great chamber work.

After the success of his opera Pénélope, Fauré was keen to write another - but it was not to be. The Great War intervened and for the time being, costly new productions were out of the question. Pénélope would be Fauré's last venture onto the operatic stage, although he did at least live to see it revived, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris - see it rather than hear it, as by now his deafness was total, forcing him to resign his directorship of the Paris Conservatoire. There was one last commission for the stage - a rather curious one from the fairy-tale principality of Monaco, for a lavish 'divertissement' inspired by the Fétes galantes poetry of Verlaine - Masques et bergamasques. It was a great success, underlining Fauré's hard-won status in French artistic life - further underlined when he was made a 'Grand Officier' of the Legion of Honour, a distinction rarely accorded to musicians. On the debit side of the balance, Fauré became seriously ill in the flu pandemic that swept Europe after the war; and he 'caught a cold' financially speaking when the devaluation of the franc shrunk his pension. Only the help of American friends, including the painter John Singer Sargent, saved him from penury. In gratitude, Fauré sent Sargent the manuscript of his 2nd Piano Quintet, a magnificent flowering of the composer's final years.

Masques et bergamasques - suite Op 112

Seattle Symphony

Ludovic Morlot, conductor

Piano Quintet No 2 in C minor, Op 115

Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

Quatuor Parrenin

'Je me suis embarqué' (L'horizon chimérique, Op 118)

Gérard Souzay, baritone

Dalton Baldwin, piano

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Including whimsy, influenza, a close shave with bankruptcy and a late, great chamber work.

Including whimsy, influenza, a close shave with bankruptcy and a late, great chamber work.

Donald Macleod follows the dramatic thread running through Gabriel Fauré's musical output. Today, whimsy, influenza, a close shave with bankruptcy and a late, great chamber work.

After the success of his opera Pénélope, Fauré was keen to write another - but it was not to be. The Great War intervened and for the time being, costly new productions were out of the question. Pénélope would be Fauré's last venture onto the operatic stage, although he did at least live to see it revived, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris - see it rather than hear it, as by now his deafness was total, forcing him to resign his directorship of the Paris Conservatoire. There was one last commission for the stage - a rather curious one from the fairy-tale principality of Monaco, for a lavish 'divertissement' inspired by the Fétes galantes poetry of Verlaine - Masques et bergamasques. It was a great success, underlining Fauré's hard-won status in French artistic life - further underlined when he was made a 'Grand Officier' of the Legion of Honour, a distinction rarely accorded to musicians. On the debit side of the balance, Fauré became seriously ill in the flu pandemic that swept Europe after the war; and he 'caught a cold' financially speaking when the devaluation of the franc shrunk his pension. Only the help of American friends, including the painter John Singer Sargent, saved him from penury. In gratitude, Fauré sent Sargent the manuscript of his 2nd Piano Quintet, a magnificent flowering of the composer's final years.

Masques et bergamasques - suite Op 112

Seattle Symphony

Ludovic Morlot, conductor

Piano Quintet No 2 in C minor, Op 115

Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

Quatuor Parrenin

'Je me suis embarqué' (L'horizon chimérique, Op 118)

Gérard Souzay, baritone

Dalton Baldwin, piano

Producer: Chris Barstow.

There's bad news as Faure's hearing problems finally force him to quit his post at the Paris Conservatoire, but good news when he's feted at a national celebration of his music.

He writes the last in a long-running series of Barcarolles for piano as well as two works in previously untried genres, the Piano Trio and his final work, the String Quartet.

C'est la paix, Op 114

Jennifer Smith (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Barcarolle No 13 for piano, Op 116

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Trio for piano, violin and cello, Op 120

Anthony Marwood (violin)

Richard Lester (cello)

Susan Tomes (piano)

String Quartet, Op 121

Adrian Berescu, Serban Mereuta (violin)

Bogdan Bisoc (viola)

Filip Papa (cello)

There's bad news as Fauré's hearing problems finally force him to quit his post at the Paris Conservatoire, but good news when he's feted at a national celebration of his music.

Adrian Berescu, Serban Mereuta (violins)

There's bad news as Faure's hearing problems finally force him to quit his post at the Paris Conservatoire, but good news when he's feted at a national celebration of his music.

He writes the last in a long-running series of Barcarolles for piano as well as two works in previously untried genres, the Piano Trio and his final work, the String Quartet.

C'est la paix, Op 114

Jennifer Smith (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Barcarolle No 13 for piano, Op 116

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Trio for piano, violin and cello, Op 120

Anthony Marwood (violin)

Richard Lester (cello)

Susan Tomes (piano)

String Quartet, Op 121

Adrian Berescu, Serban Mereuta (violin)

Bogdan Bisoc (viola)

Filip Papa (cello)

There's bad news as Fauré's hearing problems finally force him to quit his post at the Paris Conservatoire, but good news when he's feted at a national celebration of his music.

He writes the last in a long-running series of Barcarolles for piano as well as two works in previously untried genres, the Piano Trio and his final work, the String Quartet.

C'est la paix, Op 114

Jennifer Smith (soprano)

Graham Johnson (piano)

Barcarolle No 13 for piano, Op 116

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Trio for piano, violin and cello, Op 120

Anthony Marwood (violin)

Richard Lester (cello)

Susan Tomes (piano)

String Quartet, Op 121

Adrian Berescu, Serban Mereuta (violins)

Bogdan Bisoc (viola)

Filip Papa (cello).

The organisers of a village fête in the Vale of Glamorgan strike lucky with a star guest organist, none other than Fauré himself. Donald Macleod is joined by the composer's English biographer, Jessica Duchen, to find out how the Frenchman found himself amongst the practitioners of palmistry and ventriloquism at this quaintly British extravaganza.

Donald Macleod discusses Faure's visit to a village fete in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The organisers of a village fête in the Vale of Glamorgan strike lucky with a star guest organist, none other than Fauré himself.

Donald Macleod is joined by the composer's English biographer, Jessica Duchen, to find out how the Frenchman found himself amongst the practitioners of palmistry and ventriloquism at this quaintly British extravaganza.

Soir

Yann Beuron (tenor), Billy Eidi (piano)

Songs:

Larmes, Au cimetière, Spleen, La Rose

Romance orch.Gaubert

Chantal Juillet (violin), Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit (conductor)

Nocturne no.7

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Cello Sonata no.2: final movement

Christian Poltéra (cello), Kathryn Stott (piano)

String Quartet: 2nd movement

Dante Quartet.

Donald Macleod discusses Faure's visit to a village fete in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The organisers of a village fête in the Vale of Glamorgan strike lucky with a star guest organist, none other than Fauré himself. Donald Macleod is joined by the composer's English biographer, Jessica Duchen, to find out how the Frenchman found himself amongst the practitioners of palmistry and ventriloquism at this quaintly British extravaganza.

The organisers of a village fête in the Vale of Glamorgan strike lucky with a star guest organist, none other than Fauré himself.

Donald Macleod is joined by the composer's English biographer, Jessica Duchen, to find out how the Frenchman found himself amongst the practitioners of palmistry and ventriloquism at this quaintly British extravaganza.

Soir

Yann Beuron (tenor), Billy Eidi (piano)

Songs:

Larmes, Au cimetière, Spleen, La Rose

Romance orch.Gaubert

Chantal Juillet (violin), Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit (conductor)

Nocturne no.7

Kathryn Stott (piano)

Cello Sonata no.2: final movement

Christian Poltéra (cello), Kathryn Stott (piano)

String Quartet: 2nd movement

Dante Quartet.

Donald Macleod discusses Faure's visit to a village fete in the Vale of Glamorgan.