Debussy wrote songs throughout his career, beginning at the age of 18 with Nuit d'Ã©toiles, with which this collection also begins. Most of his vocal output was inspired by the singers he encountered as a young man in the fashionable salons of fin-de-siecle Paris, and in particular the soprano Blanche Vasnier: from that time, Debussy's songs resembled an amorous diary of dreams and desires of infinite sweetness, entrusted to a voice capable of the utmost seduction. The epilogue to his love story with Vasnier is heard in Apparition, after which Lorna Windsor moves to the years of Debussy in Rome, and in particular his sumptuous settings of Baudelaire. There follow the much more elusive settings of Verlaine and Rimbaud, dating from his 'impressionist' and even 'post-impressionist' late years, and often inspired by his encounter with the soprano Mary Garden, the first MÃ©lisande. Lorna Windsor has established a reputation as a specialist in contemporary music: her catalogue on Brilliant Classics includes the songs with piano by John Cage (8850) and a more recent, wide-ranging album of solo-vocal music by Feldman, Kagel, KurtÃ¡g and others. She also has considerable experience in French repertoire, having studied with the doyen of French baritones, GÃ©rard Souzay, and given performances in France of Offenbach and Satie, as well as recording the songs of Satie. A further point of interest to the album concerns the piano used by Antonio Ballista: a 1923 Pleyel. Ballista himself was born just 13 years after the piano was made, and for more than half a century he formed half of one of the best-known and most recorded piano duos of their time, in partnership with fellow Italian Bruno Canino. Though he has accompanied many eminent singers such as Cathy Berberian, Anna Caterina Antonacci and Kim Criswell, his work with singers has been very rarely represented on record, making this album a collector's item in Ballista's distinguished career as well as a ravishingly idiomatic record of French song.

Tracklist:

Nuit D'étoiles, L. 4
Triolet À Phyllis, L. 12
Pierrot
Suite Bergamasque, L. 75: III. Clair De Lune
Apparition, L. 53
5 Poèmes De Baudelaire, L. 64: III. Le Jet D'eau
Mandoline, L. 29
Fêtes Galantes I, L. 80: II. En Sourdine
Fêtes Galantes I, L. 80: V. Fantoches
Fêtes Galantes I, L. 80: IV. Clair De Lune
Fleur Des Blés
Trois Mélodies, L. 81: II. Le Son Du Cor S'afflige Vers Les Bois
12 Songs: II. Romance
Proses Lyriques, L. 84: I. De Rêve….
Proses Lyriques, L. 84: IV. De Soir ….
Trois Melodies, L. 81: III. L' Échelonnement Des Haies
Chansons De Bilitis, L. 90: I. La Flûte De Pan
Chansons De Bilitis, L. 90: II. La Chevelure
Chansons De Bilitis, L. 90: III. Le Tombeau Des Naïades
Nuits Blanches: I. Nuit Sans Fin
Nuits Blanches: II. Pourquoi?
Ariettes Oubliées, L. 60: I. C'est L'extase Amoureuse
Ariettes Oubliées, L. 60: II. Il Pleure Dans Mon Coeur
Ariettes Oubliées, L. 60: III. L'ombre Des Arbres
Ariettes Oubliées, L. 60: IV. Chevaux De Bois
Ariettes Oubliées, L. 60: V. Green
Ariettes Oubliées, L. 60: VI. Spleen
Fêtes Galantes, L. 80: VI. Colloque Sentimental
Je Tremble En Voyant Ton Visage
Trois Poèmes De Stéphane Mallarmé, L. 127: I. Soupir
Trois Poèmes De Stéphane Mallarmé, L. 127: II. Placet Futile
Trois Poèmes De Stéphane Mallarmé, L. 127: III. Éventail
Noël Des Enfants Qui N'ont Plus De Maisons

UPC: 5028421957418
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 12.7.18
Format: CD

Lorna Windsor - Melodies (CD)