Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. (Available now to download.)
The award-winning pairing of soprano Sandrine Piau and pianist Susan Manoff received unanimous critical acclaim for their previous recital disc Evocation, (V5063). On their new CD Après un rêve they perform a fascinating collection of songs by some of the greatest composers for the voice of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Richard Strauss, Fauré, Mendelssohn, Chausson, Poulenc, Britten and Vincent Bouchot.
After initially making her reputation in Baroque music alongside the likes of William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Christophe Rousset, and René Jacobs, Sandrine Piau now sings a broad repertoire reflected in her large discography. and she has now confirmed her position at the forefront of the new generation of French singers. Her Handel album with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques (E8928), was an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, and in 2007 she released an award-winning recital CD entitled Évocation (V5063), on which she was accompanied by the pianist Susan Manoff. Après un rêve demonstrates once again the strength of her musical relationship with Manoff, with whom she appears regularly at venues like the Carnegie Hall and the Wigmore Hall. Her solo discography for Naïve also includes a programme of Mozart opera arias with the Freiburger Barockorchester (V4932), and two recent bestselling Handel albums, duets with Sara Mingardo directed by Rinaldo Alessandrini (OP30483) and the solo album Between Heaven and Earth with Accademia Bizantina (OP30484).
Richard Strauss: 8 Gedichte aus Letzte Blatter, Op. 10, TrV 141
8 Gedichte aus Letzte Blatter, Op. 10, TrV 141: No. 3. Die Nacht (The Night)
Richard Strauss: 6 Lieder, Op. 17, TrV 149
6 Lieder, Op. 17, TrV 149: No. 3. Das Geheimnis
Richard Strauss: 4 Lieder, Op. 27, TrV 170
4 Lieder, Op. 27, TrV 170: No. 4. Morgen
Gabriel Faure: 3 Songs, Op. 7 (text by R. Bussine)
3 Songs, Op. 7: No. 1. Apres un reve
Gabriel Faure: Clair de lune, Op. 46, No. 2
Clair de lune, Op. 46, No. 2
Gabriel Faure: Les berceaux, Op. 23, No. 1
Les berceaux, Op. 23, No. 1
Felix Mendelssohn: 6 Lieder, Op. 71 (text by J. von Eichendorff)
6 Lieder, Op. 71: No. 6. Nachtlied
Felix Mendelssohn: 6 Gesange, Op. 19a (text by H. Heine)
6 Gesange, Op. 19a: No. 4. Neue Liebe
Felix Mendelssohn: 2 Romances
2 Romances: No. 2. Sun of the Sleepless (Schlafloser Augen Leuchte)
Felix Mendelssohn: 12 Gesange, Op. 8 (text by L.H.C. Holty)
12 Gesange, Op. 8: No. 8. Hexenlied
Ernest Chausson: 4 melodies, Op. 8
4 melodies, Op. 8: No. 2. Amour d'antan
Ernest Chausson: 2 Melodies, Op. 36: No. 2. Dans la foret du charme et de l'enchantement
2 Melodies, Op. 36: No. 2. Dans la foret du charme et de l'enchantement
Ernest Chausson: 3 Lieder, Op. 27
3 Lieder, Op. 27: No. 1. Les heures
Vincent Bouchot: Galgenlieder
I. Mondendinge
II. Der Hecht
III. Die Mitternachtsmaus
IV. Das Wasser
V. Galgenkindes Wiegenlied
Francis Poulenc: Montparnasse, FP 127
Montparnasse, FP 127
Francis Poulenc: Hyde Park, FP 128
Hyde Park, FP 128
Francis Poulenc: 2 Poemes de Louis Aragon, FP 122 *
No. 1. C
No. 2. Fetes galantes
Benjamin Britten: Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 1, "British Isles"
Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 1, "British Isles": No. 1. The Salley Gardens
Benjamin Britten: Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 3, "British Isles"
Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 3, "British Isles": No. 2. There's none to soothe
Benjamin Britten: Tom Bowling and Other Song Arrangements
Tom Bowling and Other Song Arrangements: No. 6. I wonder as I wander
July 2011
“Piau brings her limpid tone, refined phrasing and easy, silvery top notes to this eclectic programme, built around the themes of night, dreams and the fantastic...With virtually accent-free English, Piau gives true and touching performances of three Britten folksong arrangements.”
July 2011
****
“Piau's exquisite voice has a limpid quality all through its range, an evennes of tone which seduces the ear and - art concealing art - she makes her performance sound as easy as breathing...Bouchot's Galgenlieder songs,m with their skewed harmonies, off-centre melodies and dark fairy-tale lyrics, are a fascinating addition to the repertoire too, and Manoff's accompanying is a treat.”
July 2011
“surrender to Piau's gifts as a singer, the purity of her tone, with that light silvery quality that we should associate with the best of the French style, and the effortless, so it seems, spinning of a seamless legato...Everything is grist to her mill, it seems, even Britten's most English songs that she delivers with immaculate diction while sounding completely at home in a second language...this is a sophisticated and a fine artist at work.”
July 2011
****
“This celebration of dreams and childhood is, on the purely sensuous level, an unending delight. Piau's sweet, unforced tone, her bright top notes perfectly integrated with her medium and exemplary diction combine to make this in many ways yet another exmaple of how well Baroque vocal technique translates into the later song repertoire.”
1st July 2011
***
“It's a journey whose darkest depths are reached by Vincent Bouchot's use of Morgenstern's Galgenlieder (Gallow Songs), in which are encountered more surreal images – notably the inhabitants of the moon depicted "show[ing] their teeth to the sulphurous hyena" in "Moonthings".”
7th July 2011
****
“there's exquisite playing from Susan Manoff, and no mistaking the beauty of Piau's voice, or her hypnotic way with words. This is singing that sends shivers down your spine.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
8 Gedichte aus Letzte Blatter, Op. 10, TrV 141: No. 3. Die Nacht (The Night)
