Your selections total more than the whole disc price.
Notes
As the symbiosis between the art of the poet and that of the composer, the French melodie became the jewel of the salons of the ‘Belle Epoque’. By placing a string quartet and a piano around the singer, Chausson’s Chanson perpétuelle, Lekeu’s Nocturne and Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson oscillate between chamber musical intimacy and orchestral ambition. Alongside these famous pioneering pieces, this programme devised by the Palazzetto Bru Zane champions a return to the art of transcription, so popular in the nineteenth century, with the aim of expanding the repertory for voice, strings and piano in order to unearth some forgotten treasures. Hence Hahm, Berliox, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, La Tombelle, Ropartz, Louiguy and Messager all appear in a programme whose guiding thread is the emotions of nocturnal abandonment; the charms of twighlight, the trajectory of dreams, the terror of nightmare or the exhilaration of festive occasions. Alexandre Dratwicki has made these arrangements in the style of the nineteenth century. Appropriately enough, the programme ends with La Vie en rose, for this music offers a kaleidoscope of all the colours of human feeling. The texture of solo strings and piano sets Véronique Gens’s incomparable storytelling artistry in a new light.
Please login to post a review
Reviews
“ … Readers who appreciate Véronique Gens as much as I do should definitely contemplate a purchase, others are advised to sample first.”
Göran Forsling – MusicWeb-International.com – 30 March 2021
Top 10 Classical Albums of 2020
No. 10 We said: “It’s hard to think of another singer today who is more compelling in this repertory, with every word crystal clear and every nuance of the text perfectly inflected.”
Andrew Clements - The Guardian - 18 December 2020
Nominee in Vocal Category
International Classical Music Awards 2021
"... The combination of an intriguing program and attractive performances makes a recommendation easy ..."
Huntley Dent – Fanfare – September/October 2020
Choc de Classica
Jacques Bonnaure - Classica magazine (France) - September 2020
Performance **** Recording ****
“… The songs are also chosen, for the most part, with Véronique Gens’s voice in mind – no longer the bright soprano of 20 years ago, but now a warm and expressive mezzo, ideal in the more soulful melodies such as Chausson’s Chanson perpétuelle…”
Roger Nichols – BBC Music magazine – July 2020
“… everything is beautifully and fastidiously done. Gens is in fine voice here, caressing phrases and words with all her customary refinement. Chanson perpétuelle, reflective yet intense, then suddenly searing at its climax, gets one of its finest performances on disc, while Leku is a model of sensual understatement, superbly sustained… I Giardini are excellent, too, really coming into their own in the instrumental pieces that punctuate this disc…”
Tim Ashley - Gramophone magazine - July 2020
“This new album makes a captivating prospect and one difficult to ignore.”
Michael Cookson – MusicWeb-International.com – 29 May 2020
Album of the Week
"... Gens approaches her artistic prime in well-chosen vocal items, combining a cool, elegant soprano and her native savour of the French language..."
Hugh Canning – The Sunday Times (Culture magazine) – 26 April 2020
“Gens’s performances are as spellbinding as ever. It’s hard to think of another singer working today who is more compelling in this repertory, with every word crystal clear and every nuance of the text perfectly inflected.” ****
The Guardian – 23 April 2020
Media Downloads
Whenever possible we provide a high resolution CD cover image and a PDF version of the CD booklet for you to download and keep. These are found in your history if purchased and once you have logged in.