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Track(s) taken from CDA68016

La Belle au Bois dormant, L81

First line:
Des trous à son pourpoint vermeil
composer
1890
author of text

Jonathan McGovern (baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: February 2013
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: October 2014
Total duration: 3 minutes 15 seconds

Cover artwork: An Evening in Ancient Times (1908). Alphonse Osbert (1857-1939)
Musée de la Ville de Paris, Musée du Petit-Palais, France / Giraudon / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Jennifer France sounds both charming and convinced, and her slightly soubrettish but always attractive sound (unfazed by the occasional stratospheric top note that Debussy evidently threw in, further to entice Mme Vasnier) adds a proper note of youthful abandon, just what these early settings need to bring them to life. Praise is also due to Malcolm Martineau for his total empathy with the always atmospheric but by no means easy accompaniments. The recorded sound is ideal ... Baritone Jonathan McGovern too is well cast, velvety in sound, easy on the ear’ (International Record Review)» More
Once the liaison with Blanche Vasnier came to an end with Debussy’s departure for Rome in 1885, he does not seem ever to have written songs for any singer in particular, even if he was extremely choosy over who should premiere them. La Belle au Bois dormant of 1890 is another ballad on the lines of Les Elfes, although far more tightly constructed. Debussy gives the song a mythical, antique flavour by using the folk song ‘Nous n’irons plus au bois’ eight times in the accompaniment—the earliest of the tune’s four appearances in Debussy’s œuvre.

from notes by Roger Nichols © 2014

En 1885, parti à Rome, Debussy cessa sa liaison avec Mme Vasnier et, semble-t-il, n’écrivit plus jamais de mélodies pour une chanteuse en particulier, même s’il se montra toujours extrêmement sourcilleux quant à la personne chargée de les créer. La Belle au Bois dormant (1890) est une ballade dans la veine de Les Elfes, mais avec une construction bien plus resserrée. Debussy lui confère un parfum mythique, antique en citant huit fois dans l’accompagnement le populaire «Nous n’irons plus au bois»—la toute première des quatre apparitions de cet air dans la production debussyste.

extrait des notes rédigées par Roger Nichols © 2014
Français: Hypérion

Nachdem Debussys Liaison mit Blanche Vasnier geendet hatte und er 1885 nach Rom gereist war, scheint er seine Lieder nicht mehr für bestimmte Sänger oder Sängerinnen komponiert zu haben, obwohl er sehr wählerisch war, wenn es darum ging, wer sie erstmals aufführen sollte. La Belle au Bois dormant von 1890 ist eine weitere Ballade in der gleichen Art wie Les Elfes, jedoch deutlich enger gearbeitet. Debussy verleiht diesem Lied eine mythische, antike Note, indem er das Volkslied „Nous n’irons plus au bois“ achtmal in der Begleitung verwendet—diese Melodie sollte später in noch drei weiteren Werken Debussys auftauchen.

aus dem Begleittext von Roger Nichols © 2014
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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