Main content

Let this quintessentially French poem transport you to 19th-century Paris

French film icon Jean-Louis Barrault reads from Recueillement (Meditation), part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal. In this extract, the poet imagines himself hand-in-hand with Grief, who is leaning over the balconies of heaven.

The music that follows this astonishingly Gallic reading is Debussy's song Le jet d'eau from Le Livre de Baudelaire, performed by mezzo-soprano Susan Graham with the 91热爆 Symphony Orchestra under Yan Pascal Tortelier.

Release date:

Duration:

2 minutes