Soprano Sandrine Piau follows her exciting all-Mozart aria recital with a disc of Debussy melodies, where subtlety and declamatory elegance replace coloratura fireworks. Piauâ€™s sparing

Sandrine Piau - Debussy: Mélodies

Soprano Sandrine Piau follows her exciting all-Mozart aria recital with a disc of Debussy melodies, where subtlety and declamatory elegance replace coloratura fireworks. Piauâ€™s sparing use of vibrato testifies to her acclaim as a singer of early music, and itâ€™s "authentic" for turn-of-the-century music too. Her refined soprano is a quality instrument, though some may prefer the richer voice of Juliane Banse, whose recent Mozart-Debussy recital on ECM duplicates some of the material. But Piau covers more ground, including the 1913 Trois poÃ©mes de StÃ©phane MallarmÃ© and a brace of early songs from the 1880s since her well-chosen program spans Debussyâ€™s life-long interest in melodies. She captures his idiom well--just listen to the delicacy of her phrasing in Câ€™est lâ€™extase and the floating, disembodied close of De rÃªve and Soupir, among many such instances on this disc. Of special interest are the mellow-sounding piano accompaniments of Jos van Immerseel, playing an 1897 Erard, an instrument whose timbre Debussy would have expected in these songs. --Dan Davis
Country USA
Brand naïve
Manufacturer Naive
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 888954986
ReleaseDate 2003-07-15
UnitCount 1
UPCs 822186049327
EANs 0822186049327

Sandrine Piau - Debussy: Mélodies