"Every time I have had the pleasure of performing Chausson’s Chanson perpétuelle in its original version for string quartet, piano and soprano, I have been astonished that the marvellous example of this piece has been so little emulated by composers of his time or since. For the string quartet possesses all the qualities which are superficially missing in the piano - legato, cantabile, sostenuto, variety of vibrato, lyricism - and when the two elements are combined they form a sort of ideal instrument, particularly when one seeks to serve music as profoundly expressive as that of Chausson." Nicolas Kruger
Nicolas Kruger and Salomé Haller commissioned from Franck Villard a transcription of the orchestral work for voice, quartet and piano. Zig-Zag Territoires presents a unique project with this instrumentarium: voice, quartet and piano.
4th July 2010
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“[the transcription] enables a much lighter voice to sing a vocal part that calls for an Isolde or a Brangäne in symphonic performances...It also makes for an ideally balanced programme, two sung items sandwiching a fine performance of the String Quartet”
Awards Issue 2010
“[The Poème transcription] is thoroughly convincing, and is one of the particular pleasures of this disc...the fusion of Wagnerian luxuriance and Gallic finesse in the two vocal works allows the soprano Salomé Haller ample scope for expressive poignancy and rapture.”
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