Arte Verum: ARV004

Poulenc - Tel Jour Telle Nui

Royal Academy Hall of Music (Stockholm, Sweden) 21 to 23 November 2006 and on 3 November 2007

This is the first CD of French music for Arte Verum and also the first CD of Poulenc recorded by Barbara Hendricks.These songs are real jewels, ideal for Barbara Hendricks who has the necessary mischievous spirit to carry them off.The cycle Tel jour telle nuit, which she has toured for some years, is considered to contain Poulenc's finest songs and has been compared with Schubert's Winterreise. From his 140 songs Ms Hendricks has made a judicious selection: "I had the privilege to work with Pierre Bernac near the end of his life on Debussy's La Demoiselle Élue and I was grateful to have been able to connect, albeit briefly, to a tradition that had also inspired my teacher Jennie Tourel. She knew Bernac, had been pupil of the French composer, Reynaldo Hahn, and infected me with her passion for the French mélodie." Barbara Hendricks, February 2008