In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.
The brief but close friendship between Chausson and Debussy was based, it would seem, on the attraction of opposites. The bourgeois, god-fearing, happily married Chausson, living on inherited money in a spacious apartment on the fashionable Boulevard de Courcelles, was free to pursue high-minded, respectable projects like his Symphony in B flat, declaring his allegiance to his teacher, the pater seraphicus, César Franck, or his opera, Le Roi Arthus, an attempt to transplant Wagner onto French soil. Debussy on the other hand, a bohemian, an atheist, with a roving eye, especially for green-eyed blondes and a love-hatred for Wagner that would inspire many of his finest works, was to be beholden to no one – hence his famous reply when asked what rules he followed: ‘Mon plaisir’. But it was in the field of the mélodie that the two men came closest.
Yet put the two composers side by side, as we witness in this creatively and intelligently conceived recital, and it takes your breath away. This was one of Christine Schäfer’s earliest recordings, during which time she was signed to Deutsche Grammophon, and Irwin Gage’s pianism is no mere ‘accompaniment’ – it is a vital ingredient and a partnership of equals.
Claude Debussy: Fêtes galantes
1. En sourdine
2. Fantoches
3. Clair de lune
Proses lyriques (Claude Debussy)
1. De rêve
2. De grève
3. De fleurs
4. De soir
Ernest Chausson: Dans la foret du charme et de l'enchantement,op.36, no.2 (Jean Moréas)
Dans la foret du charme et de l'enchantement,op.36, no.2 (Jean Moréas)
Ernest Chausson: Quatre Mélodies op.13: 1. Apaisement (Paul Verlaine)
Quatre Mélodies op.13: 1. Apaisement (Paul Verlaine)
Ernest Chausson: Quatre Mélodies op.13: 2. Sérénade (Jean Lahor)
Quatre Mélodies op.13: 2. Sérénade (Jean Lahor)
Ernest Chausson: Quatre Mélodies op.13: 3. L'Aveu (Villiers de L'Isle-Adam)
Quatre Mélodies op.13: 3. L'Aveu (Villiers de L'Isle-Adam)
Ernest Chausson: Quatre Mélodies op.13: 4. La Cigale (Leconte de Lisle)
Quatre Mélodies op.13: 4. La Cigale (Leconte de Lisle)
Ernest Chausson: Le Temps des Lilas, op.19, No.3 (Maurice Bouchor)
Le Temps des Lilas, op.19, No.3 (Maurice Bouchor)
Claude Debussy: Nuits Blanches (Claude Debussy): 1. Nuit sans fin
Nuits Blanches (Claude Debussy): 1. Nuit sans fin
Claude Debussy: Nuits Blanches (Claude Debussy): 2. Lorsqu'elle est entrée
Nuits Blanches (Claude Debussy): 2. Lorsqu'elle est entrée
Ernest Chausson: Sept Mélodies op.2, No.6 Hébé (L. Ackermann)
Sept Mélodies op.2, No.6 Hébé (L. Ackermann)
Ernest Chausson: Le Colibri, Op.2 No.7
Le Colibri, Op.2 No.7
Ernest Chausson: Quatre Mélodies op.8, No.1 Nocturne (Maurice Bouchor)
Quatre Mélodies op.8, No.1 Nocturne (Maurice Bouchor)
Ernest Chausson: Quatre Mélodies op.8, No.3 Printemps triste (Maurice Bouchor)
Quatre Mélodies op.8, No.3 Printemps triste (Maurice Bouchor)
Ernest Chausson: Deux Duos op 11 - 1. La Nuit (Thédore de Banville)
Deux Duos op 11 - 1. La Nuit (Thédore de Banville)
Ernest Chausson: Deux Duos op 11 - 2. Réveil (Honoré de Balzac)
Deux Duos op 11 - 2. Réveil (Honoré de Balzac)
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
1. En sourdine