Meyerbeer: Le ricordanze

Best known for his spectacular operas (including Il Crociato in Egitto and Semiramide recorded respectively on Naxos 8660245-47 and 8660205-06) Giacomo Meyerbeer also contributed to the more intimate world of French, German and Italian song . Often reflecting on the joys and pains of love or glowing with religious fervour, the 26 songs heard here are interpreted by Sivan Rotem, one of Israel’s outstanding singers, and Jonathan Zak, a graduate of The Juilliard School and professor at the Buchman-Mehta Music School of Tel-Aviv University.

In the seventh volume of its Il Salotto series, we decided to programme Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnets – but, they do not appear in the conventional way. Rather, the three sonnets are presented out of sequence, interspersed with music of Liszt’s contemporaries, composers whose work he knew or knew of.

Ordinarily, these intensely personal songs are heard in recitals as a separate group. As they are all in the same key, this can give the impression that one flows into another. But, in fact, each song has a different text and sentiment and, in the spirit of its Il Salotto series,we decided to separate them with other music. For various reasons, works by Meyerbeer, Saint-Säens, Poniatowski, Federico Ricci, Gomes and Verdi seemed appropriate choices.