Mendelssohn: Neue Liebe, Op. 19a No. 4

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).

As Richard Wigmore notes in his characteristically scholarly and elegant booklet essay, ‘Fischer-Dieskau’s narrative flair, mastery of word-painting and gift for fixing a scene in the mind’s ear made him a natural for the ballads of Carl Loewe, a composer once well described as a 19th-century incarnation of a medieval strolling minstrel’.

Digitally remastered in 2007

The internationally renowned opera singer Franz Grundheber is engaged by all important opera houses from Paris to Barcelona, New York, and Hamburg to Vienna. His overwhelming performances of the most diverse characters have delighted audiences over past decades. On this CD the baritone proves himself to be a sensitive and expressive Lieder interpreter.

As the renowned Austrian opera administrator Ioan Holender said: “Franz Grundheber’s quality has influenced the history of the Vienna State Opera – and that’s not all...“

Jana Büchner’s selection of lieder traces the evolution of the song from Mozart and Schubert all the way through to Hensel and Mendelssohn.

The works deal with the joys and sufferings of love, hence “Thoughts of Love”. Included are lieder with horn obligato and Lewy’s song (1802 - 1881) is thought to be a premiere recording.

The selection of songs and arias on this double SACD set reflect on the fundamental question of life and death and cover a period of almost two centuries, the composers featured ranging from Bach through to Tchaikovsky. They are performed by one of the great lyric tenors of our age Christophe Prégardien, accompanied by the pianist Michael Gees. The common theme in the music of this recording is the most fundamental of all, existence itself, life and death. The composers represented are Bach, Mahler, Schubert, Schumann, Mozart, Brahms, Loewe, Wolf, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky. The songs and arias performed here range over almost two centuries with eleven compositions and many musical forms, the simple song with piano accompaniment, the narrative, expansive ballad, the great opera aria and more.

Christoph Prégardien is widely regarded as among the foremost lyric tenors of our time and frequently collaborates with conductors such as Ricardo Chailly, John Elliot Gardiner, Nicolaus Harnoncourt, and Phillipe Herreweghe. He is represented on disc with more than a hundred and twenty titles, including most of his current repertoire. His recordings of German Romantic Lied repertory, particularly his recent releases on Challenge Classics of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, (CC72292), and Schwanengesang, (CC72302), have been highly acclaimed by the public and press and have received many major international awards.

Auf Flügeln des Gesangs (On Wings of Song) is far and away the most popular of Mendelssohn's songs. Heard on this CD with selection of his earlier lieder this is another fine release from Carus. The tenor Hans Jörg Mammel, who enjoys an international reputation for his Lieder singing, offers with this selection, impressive insights into Mendelssohn’s Lieder. He is accompanied by Arthur Schoonderwoerd on a historic pianoforte.

New York recital debut, February 28th 1971