LDV103

25 ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE METZ GRAND EST ∙ DAVID REILAND It is tempting to introduce a programme devoted to women composers by focusing on their gender and the many difficulties they faced. From their years of training to the reception of their works, they undoubtedly had to fight the expectations of their contemporaries. Woe betide those who expressed the tumult of emotions or showed a desire to turn professional: the press took it upon itself to assert that they had a duty not to overstep the bounds of delicacy and that it was preferable for them to perform in the private sphere rather than make an exhibition of themselves in the concert hall or on the operatic stage. Yet although, by constantly recalling the misogyny of the past, we certainly explain the lack of response to certain ambitious works written by women, we also contribute to the spread of those very prejudices. Women are assigned a separate place in the aesthetic space. Do we ask listeners to recordings featuring only the music of male composers – that is to say, virtually every disc that gets released – to hear in them the voice of triumphant masculinity?