Duparc: Extase

With a Negro spiritual, spectacular bel canto, romantic song and comic opera, Lawrence Brownlee unveils the breadth of his repertoire and the lyric tenor voice that has won acclaim at the New York's Metropolitan Opera (for his 'agility, elegance and Rossinian style) and farther afield.

One of the most sought-after bel canto tenors on the international scene.

Includes songs by Duparc, Donizetti, Liszt (3 Petrach Sonnets), Rossini, Ginastera and American contemporary composer Ben Moore.

A Lesson in Love tells the universal story of a love won and lost, and contains some beautiful and emotional German lieder, English and American songs and French mélodies.

Kate Royal’s first two orchestral discs for EMI have been critically acclaimed. Here she turns her attention towards a more intimate recital disc with piano.

A Lesson in Love charts the journey of a young girl’s relationship: from the first kiss and thrill of a blossoming love and initial intimacy through to the joy of a love fulfilled, to the disappointment and anger when the relationship breaks down - it ends with the girl’s acceptance and a cheeky sense of optimism about what her future love life might hold… Kate here creates her own unique song cycle, a thematic journey through the highs and lows of love, of young naivety lost and emotional maturity gained, feelings and experiences everyone can relate.

Kate leads us through her own personal choice of song, and her innate sense of drama and her passion for musical storytelling brings a fresh and youthful interpretation of the disc repertoire. A Lesson in Love contains a mixture of well-known songs as well as some surprising rarities, with a range of song styles and languages to appeal to a broad audience. She is joined by the most esteemed and respected accompanists, Malcolm Martineau.

The American baritone Barry McDaniel was one of the outstanding singers of the post-war era. As a successful opera singer and Lieder interpreter, he enjoyed a long and eventful career, both in Germany and abroad. Despite numerous performances and many recordings for radio and television, he nonetheless remained largely unnoticed by the media, partly because his name almost vanished in the shadow of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who was five years his senior. Unjustly so, since the two singers were equals as artists, albeit with different characters. Today, Barry McDaniel is hardly mentioned in specialist literature and one searches in vain for CDs since, until now, recordings from radio archives have not been phonographically processed. However, Audite now presents a première double CD of Lieder sung by Barry McDaniel. These studio recordings from the archives of Radio Berlin-Brandenburg (formally Sender Freies Berlin) were made between 1963 and 1974 with Hertha Klust and Aribert Reimann as accompanists.

This selection of songs by Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Duparc, Ravel and Debussy reveals diverse facets of McDaniel’s artistic personality. His interpretations are characterised by an interleaving of knowledge and naivety, feeling and craftsmanship, expression and impeccable singing. Apart from his immaculate technique, his accent-free German is particularly remarkable.

Barry McDaniel moved from the USA to Germany in 1953 in order to further his studies. He then gave his first song recitals, together with Hermann Reutter, and later began a career as an opera singer. In 1961 he was engaged at the newly re-opened Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he remained for thirty-seven years. At the same time, he gave guest performances at the Vienna Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Frankfurt Opera and the Munich Opera Festival, as well as broadcasting for radio and television. In addition, Barry McDaniel gave numerous song recitals, for example in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Hanover, Brunswick and Berlin, including, in the latter city, the first ever song recital at the newly built Philharmonie in 1963. Today, the 81-year-old baritone declares: “Whatever I sing, I have to believe in it.” That is exactly how these recordings sound.

A French label, French composer and the complete song collection, the perfect combination. These songs - the thirteen for voice and piano of the 1911 edition and three youthful essays, together with a duet – were composed between 1868 and 1884. ‘Imperfect but brilliant’ – such was Ravel’s opinion on Duparc’s songs, but their brilliance should outweigh the imperfections if one considers posterity’s undying attachment to these songs that mark a high-point of expression in French music.

These rarely recorded works are brought together by two musicians with a passion for the works of Henri Duparc. His compositional aim was to move every audience , and in his words - “ True music, the only music, is the music of the soul, of emotion….if the artist, in the process of finding ideas, does not feel the thrill of emotion, he will never be moving” This recording is a testament to this both from the composers and the artists perspective.

The complete melodic works of Duparc, the pinnacle of 19th-century song and the heart and soul of French Romanticism. A native of Quebec, Michèle Losier, has been applauded on numerous North-American opera stages, and impressed the judges of the 2008 Reine Elisabeth Singing Competition, where she met Daniel Blumenthal, the ideal accompanist, and together recorded this project in the Concertgebouw in Bruges.The result enablies us to admire the lesser known melodies of this great genius, next to his more celebrated masterpieces.