Florian Just: Eternelle Dualité: Songs of Love & War
Etcetera Records

With Éternelle Dualité: Songs Of Love & War, Netherlands-based baritone Florian Just follows the release of his well-received 2016 debut Monologe with a recital-styled set that's already been met with a deservedly warm reception in his homeland. Like the first, the second release appears on Etcetera Records and is distinguished by both its music and presentation. In place of a standard jewel case or cardboard package, Éternelle Dualité houses its CD and ninety-two-page booklet within durable hardback covers, the effect more akin to a hardcover book than CD release. In addition to being an aesthetically appealing art object, the release also informs in augmenting lyrics with in-depth background on the composers whose works are performed (all of the texts appear in English, French, and German). Etcetera Records enhances the impact of Just's recording dramatically with this deluxe presentation.

Not that any of that would matter a whole lot if the music was sub-par, but that's certainly not the case. Just has curated a terrific French-language programme for the release, and the performances by him and his partners, flutist Julie Moulin, cellist Stephan Heber, and pianist Jan-Paul Grijpink, are superb. The singer brings decades of vocal experience to the project. He performed as a boy soprano in Die Zauberflöte and these days is in-demand as a soloist for Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Orff's Carmina Burana and for operatic roles in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, and Haydn's L'isola disabitata. A singer of great versatility, his range extends to contemporary composers such as Xenakis and Morton Subotnik, as well as Berg and Richard Strauss.

The idea for the release began to crystallize years ago when Just wanted to include Ravel's Chansons Madécasses in a programme and, eager to find other pieces that lent themselves to a similar kind of chamber treatment, discovered Caplet's “Viens! Une flûte invisible soupire” and Massenet's “Élégie.” With those choices in place, he gradually assembled a set-list that included pieces by Duparc, Diepenbrock, Ibert, Fauré, Dallapiccola, Gounod, Debussy, and Wagner. Enhancing the music, seven of the CD's fifteen tracks feature arrangements by Just's one-time fellow student Wijnand van Klaveren. In exploring themes of love and war, the selections are fundamentally contrasting in emotional pitch, yet these diametrically opposed states are reconciled in passion and, in Just's view, “a similar existential need—our everlasting search for spiritual companionship.”

No better choice of opener could have been made than Gounod's “Où voulez-vous aller?,” not only for the beauty of its moving melodies but for granting Just a magnificent early opportunity to demonstrate his appealing vocal quality. Here also we witness how effective the musicians are as partners to the singer and how well they amplify the emotional dimension of the song. Just's command of articulation, dynamics, and emotional expression is exemplary, and the trio's playing is as affecting in bringing this love song to life. As memorable is the rendering of Massenet's mournful “Élégie,” whose gorgeous melody is presented first by Heber until Just enters, his voice dripping with emotion. In “Extase,” the first of three Duparc songs, cello again delivers the plaintive melody first, after which Just and Moulin take the reins, Grijpink supporting the three with authority. In contrast to the slow-motion “Extase,” the composer's “Le Manoir de Rosamonde” is animated and marked by desperation.

Modifications in arrangement enhance the recording. In Ibert's two-part Deux stèles orientées, Just is accompanied by flute alone, a choice that brings the playful interplay between the woodwind and the singer into sharp relief. With Grijpink the sole accompanist, Just's dynamic range is shown in a ten-minute performance of Dallapiccola's “Rencesvals” when his voice oscillates between boisterous declamations and intimate disclosures (a few moments even arise where Just's voice invites comparison to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's). With flute and piano providing a sensuous backdrop for the singer, Caplet's “Viens! Une flûte invisible soupire” proves seductive, as does Ravel's three-part Chansons Madécasses, its intoxicating “Nahandove” in particular. Framing the release smartly, Just ends it with another delightful Gounod song, “Sérénade,” to captivate the listener one final time.

The decision to pair voice with the modest trio of flute, cello, and piano pays huge dividends. Contrast between the instruments is pronounced and separation clear; with only three instruments accompanying the singer, a performance is never cluttered; at the same time, the timbres are so rich, they provide a suitably vivid backdrop. It hardly surprises that Just has sung Pelléas in Debussy's opera when his delivery of the French-language material on Éternelle Dualité is so satisfying.

December 2022