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Track(s) taken from CDA68075

Pantomime, L47

First line:
Pierrot, qui n’a rien d’un Clitandre
composer
early 1883
author of text

Lucy Crowe (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: November 2013
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Andrew Mellor
Release date: February 2018
Total duration: 2 minutes 26 seconds

Cover artwork: Under a Moonbeam (c1895). Alphonse Osbert (1857-1939)
Private Collection / Photo © Christie's Images / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘In wonderful voice throughout, Crowe very much makes this repertory her own. Ascents into the stratospheres are all beautifully and securely accomplished, and those long melismas are tautly controlled and always expressive, never vacuous … Martineau, who has been the series’ presiding genius, is a flawless Debussy interpreter, meanwhile, playing with infinite subtlety, nuance and colour. Exceptional’ (Gramophone)

‘British soprano Lucy Crowe seems versatile enough to tackle anything from Baroque to the present day … Crowe’s bright, pure tone suits the music well: she is extremely precise and can spin out the lightest of silken vocal lines without any extraneous fuss. Her delicacy is admirable, supported throughout by Malcolm Martineau’s sensitivity at the piano’ (BBC Music Magazine)
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING
Pantomime, from early in 1883, opens the ‘Recueil Vasnier’ and so may be heard as an introduction to its atmosphere coloured by the characters of the commedia dell’arte, and as an extension of Debussy’s dedication to his muse: ‘These songs that have lived only through her, and that would lose their charm and grace if ever they ceased to pass through her melodious fairy lips.’ In this song everything is light, airy, insubstantial, varied only by Colombine’s dream section at its centre. By now Debussy has learned to lead Mme Vasnier up to her stratospherics gradually …

from notes by Roger Nichols © 2018

Pantomime date du début de l’année 1883 ; elle ouvre le «Recueil Vasnier» et peut donc être entendue comme une introduction à son atmosphère colorée par les personnages de la Commedia dell’arte, et comme une extension de la dédicace de Debussy à sa muse: «Ces chansons qui n’ont jamais vécues [sic] que par elle, et qui perdront leur grâce charmeresse si jamais plus elles ne passent par sa bouche de fée mélodieuse.» Dans cette mélodie, tout est léger, désinvolte, insouciant, varié seulement par le rêve de Colombine en son centre. À cette époque, Debussy savait comment amener madame Vasnier à se sublimer peu à peu …

extrait des notes rédigées par Roger Nichols © 2018
Français: Marie-Stella Pâris

Pantomime, vom Beginn des Jahres 1883, eröffnet den „Recueil Vasnier“ und kann damit einerseits als Einleitung zu jener Atmosphäre verstanden werden, die von den Figuren der Commedia dell’arte beeinflusst ist, und andererseits als Erweiterung der Widmung Debussys an seine Muse: „Diese Lieder, die nur durch sie gelebt haben und ihre reizvolle Anmut verlieren würden, wenn sie jemals nicht mehr ihre feenhaften, melodiösen Lippen passierten.“ In diesem Lied ist alles leicht, luftig und substanzlos gehalten; einzig Colombines Traumabschnitt in der Mitte sorgt für Abwechslung. Inzwischen hatte Debussy gelernt, Mme Vasnier nach und nach in ihre stratosphärischen Höhen zu führen…

aus dem Begleittext von Roger Nichols © 2018
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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