French Songs: "Chère Nuit"

 
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RAVEL / MESSIAEN / DEBUSSY / VIARDOT etc
French Songs: "Chère Nuit"
Louise Alder (soprano), Joseph Middleton (piano)

[ Chandos / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 4 June 2021

The acclaimed British soprano Louise Alder returns for her second recital on Chandos, joined once again by star pianist Joseph Middleton. Enthusiastic praise was widespread for her Chandos début, Lines Written during a Sleepless Night: The Russian Connection, which earned significant accolades in the USA and continental Europe in addition to the UK.

For this recording the pair explore a rich and varied selection of French songs from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Louse Alder writes: 'I have always held French song very dear to my heart and when we settled on this wildly varied programme, I quickly grew excited at the prospect of exploring the art form in virtually all its styles. From Ravel to Yvain, I hope we paint pictures of a French evening, of mystery, intrigue, discovery, seduction, love, and blissful night.'

"Chère Nuit finds Louise Alder on glowing form, equalled in expression all the way by pianist Joseph Middleton...it's Messiaen's Trois Mélodies and four songs by Debussy that find them at their spellbinding best, Alder's voice gauzy, supple and irresistible" Guardian

'Here's a peach of a recital disc, wonderfully programmed...At piano and pianissimo, Alder's soprano possesses a lovely range of pastel colours.' Gramophone Editor's Choice June 2021

"This is a fabulous collection and that it effortlessly places the unfamiliar alongside familiar as well as encompassing such a diverse range of styles demonstrates the thought that has gone into its planning. The rich velvetly texture of Alder's voice is well suited to this music and she has the flexibility to respond to subtle and fleeting changes of emotion; Ravel's Asie is particularly fine in this respect. An album I will return to with pleasure." MusicWeb Recommended

Tracks:

MAURICE RAVEL
Shéhérazade (1903)
Trois Poémes de Tristan Klingsor
1.I Asie. À Mademoiselle Jeane Hatto
2.II La Flûte enchantée. À Madame René de Saint-Marceaux.
3.III L'Indifférent. À Madame Sigismond Bardac.

OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Trois Mélodies (1930)
5.Le Sourire. Lent
6.La Fiancée perdue. Vif - Lent - Modéré

CLAUDE DEBUSSY
7.Apparition (1884)

À Madame Vasnier
8.En sourdine (1882)

À Madame Vasnier
9. La Romance d'Ariel (1884)
Andante sans lenteur - Un peu plus lent

PAULINE VIARDOT
10.Les Deux Roses, VWV1055 (c.1866)
No.7 from Douze Mélodies sur les poésies russes (1866)
À Monsieur Pierre-Marius-Victor-Simon Jourdan
11. Haï luli!, VWV 1106 (c.1880)
No.4 from Six Mélodies et une havanaise (1880)
12. Havanaise, VWV 1019 (c.1880)
No.7 from Six Mélodies et une havanaise
Théme poplaire varié pour voix de soprano

CECILE CHAMINADE
13. La Lune paresseuse (1905)

À Nademoiselle Marie Lasne
14.L'Amour captif (1893)
Allegretto
15.Ronde d'amour (1895)
À Madame Colombel

JOSEPH CANTELOUBE
16.O up! (c.1948)
Vif et léger - Ékargi

ALFRED BACHELET
17. Chère Nuit (1897)
4:57Audio Player
Molto tranquillo (sans lenteur)

FRANCIS POULENC
18. Les Chemins de l'amour, FP 1-6-la (1940)
Valse chantée
(Waltz Song)
from incidental music to the play Léocadia (1940)
by Jean Anouilh (1910 - 1987)
À Yvonne Printemps
Métmorphoses, FP 121 (1943)
19.IReine des mouettes. À Marie-Blanche. Trés vite et haletant
Surtout sans ralentir - Ralentir un peu
20.II C'est ainsi que tu es. À Marthe Bosredon. Trés calme, très à l'aise
Cedez un peu
21.III Paganini. À Jeanne Ritcher. Prestissimo - Surtout sans ralentir
Toujours sans ralentir

ÉRIK SATIE
22.La Diva de 'I'Empire' (1904)

Temps de marche
23.Je te veux (1897)

Modèrè - Refrain. Valse -
MAURICE YVAIN
24. Je chante la nuit (c.1938)
À Yvonne Printemps