Voyage intime Sandrine Piau Artist

No one can accuse soprano {|Sandrine Piau|} of ever resting on her laurels, and with this 2023 release, she began, in her late fifties, a new partnership with accompanist {|David Kadouch|}. It is a bit hard to tell what the theme is supposed to be al... Read more

No one can accuse soprano {|Sandrine Piau|} of ever resting on her laurels, and with this 2023 release, she began, in her late fifties, a new partnership with accompanist {|David Kadouch|}. It is a bit hard to tell what the theme is supposed to be all about. Only some of the songs are intimes, and many are not about voyages; {|Piau|} also notes that some of the songs are about the theme of people being snatched away from the land of the living, not an especially intimate concept. Best just to listen and take the songs one by one, and this will reveal not only strong performances but organizational principles the performers don't mention. The first part of the program is devoted to German lieder, the second to French melodies (before a final return to {|Schubert|}), with one piano piece in each set. {|Piau|} is arguably the greatest French interpreter of German song, and her {|Schubert|} {|Erlkoenig, D. 328|}, has nothing trite about it as she inhabits but doesn't make opera characters out of the three characters in the piece. Another theme is that {|Piau|} really makes songs by women her own. There is a group by {|Clara Schumann|}, with an excellent setting of {|Heine|}'s {|Lorelei|} that owes something to {|Erlkoenig|} but is in no way a knockoff, and a fine group by {|Lili Boulanger|} that fits {|Piau|} beautifully. Sample {|Si tout ceci n'est qu'un pauvre reve|}. Perhaps the Mignon songs do not fit her quite so well at this late date, but the heftier numbers by {|Liszt|} and {|Wolf|} more than make up for this. Yet another theme is that these are all songs that give the pianist a great deal to do, and {|Piau|}'s interactions with {|Kadouch|} are sensitive and detailed enough to make one eagerly anticipate future collaborations. Superbly recorded by {|Alpha|} at the Teldex Studio in Berlin, the album made classical best-seller charts in early 2023. ~ James Manheim Less