Album

French soprano Sandrine Piau has a light, silvery voice that she deploys with unmannered gracefulness and that's ideal for the gentle, nocturnal tone of the songs she selected for Après un rêve. She made her early career in music of the Baroque and she has gone on to expand her repertoire forward into the 21st century. The purity and focus of her tone that serves so well in Baroque repertoire gives her performances of these songs, mostly post-Romantic in style, along with a few 19th century and modern selections, a penetrating clarity. Her ability to spin out seamless legato lines with broad Romantic sweep, and the sensitivity and expressiveness of her interpretations are especially evident in the three very early songs of Richard Strauss and the songs of Chausson and Fauré. Mendelssohn is rarely remembered as a song composer, but the four lieder recorded here demonstrate his gift for distinctive, memorable songs that wouldn't be mistaken for Schubert's or Schumann's. Poulenc's rambunctious Hyde Park and Fêtes galantes demonstrate Piau's nimbleness and gift for humor. His poignant wartime song, C, is especially effective in Piau's moving performance, which manages to be both passionate and reserved. Galgenlieder, a cycle by contemporary French composer Vincent Bouchot has an elegance and harmonic and melodic straightforwardness that make it fit well with the lyrical aesthetic of the album. Susan Manoff, Piau's frequent collaborator, plays the accompaniment with fluidity and nuanced musicality; their history together is evident in the easy give-and-take of their performances. Naïve's sound is clean, clear, and beautifully balanced. Piau may not be an international superstar, but her exemplary performances make this an album that should appeal to fans of lyrical, sumptuous vocal music.

© Stephen Eddins, Rovi

CD 1
Richard Strauss Composer 8 Gedichte aus Letzte Blätter, Op.10, TrV141 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
1	3.Die Nacht	2:50			$0.99
Richard Strauss Composer 6 Lieder, Op.17, TrV149 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
2	3.Das Geheimnis	2:16			$0.99
Richard Strauss Composer 4 Lieder, Op.27, TrV170 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
3	4.Morgen	3:30			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer 3 Songs, Op.7 (includes 'Après un rêve') Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
4	1.Après un rêve	2:30			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer 2 Songs, Op.46 (includes 'Clair de lune') Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
5	2.Clair de lune	2:57			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer 3 Songs, Op.23 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
6	1.Les berceaux	2:34			$0.99
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Composer 6 Songs, Op.71 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
7	6.Nachtlied ('Vergangen ist der lichte Tag')	2:43			$0.99
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Composer 6 Songs, Op.19a Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
8	4.Neue Liebe ('In dem Mondenschein')	2:06			$0.99
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Composer 2 Romances Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
9	2.Sun of the sleepless (Schlafloser Augen Leuchte)	2:17			$0.99
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Composer 12 Songs, Op.8 (Nos.2, 3, 12 by Fanny Mendelssohn) Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
10	8.Andres Maienlied ('Die Schwalbe fliegt')8	2:20			$0.99
Ernest Chausson Composer Amour d'antan, Op.8, No.2 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
11	Amour d'antan, Op.8, No.2	3:00			$0.99
Ernest Chausson Composer 2 Mélodies, Op.36 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
12	2.Dans la forêt du charme et de l'enchantement	2:40			$0.99
Ernest Chausson Composer 3 Mélodies, Op.27 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
13	1.Les heures	2:51			$0.99
Vincent Bouchot Composer Galgenlieder, for voice and piano Work 8:17 Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
14	1.Mondendinge	1:50			$0.99
15	2.Der Hecht	1:06			$0.99
16	3.Die Mitternachtsmaus	3:00			$0.99
17	4.Das Wasser	0:57			$0.99
18	5.Galgenkindes Wiegenlied	1:24			$0.99
Francis Poulenc Composer Montparnasse ('O porte de l'hôtel avec deux plantes vertes'; text by Apollinaire), FP127 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
19	Montparnasse ('O porte de l'hôtel avec deux plantes vertes'; text by Apollinaire), FP127	3:02			$0.99
Francis Poulenc Composer Hyde Park ('Les faiseurs de religion', text by Apollinaire), FP128 Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
20	Hyde Park ('Les faiseurs de religion', text by Apollinaire), FP128	0:51			$0.99
Francis Poulenc Composer 2 Poèmes de Louis Aragon, FP122 Work 4:08 Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
21	1.C ('J'ai traversé les ponts de Cé)	3:08			$0.99
22	2.Fêtes galantes ('On voit des marquis sur des bicyclettes')	1:00			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer Folksong Arrangements, Vol.1 ('British Isles') Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
23	1.The Salley Gardens	2:20			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer Folksong Arrangements, Vol.3 ('British Isles') Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
24	2.There's None to Soothe	1:27			$0.99
Christmas Traditional Composer I Wonder As I Wander (American) Work Sandrine Piau Soprano, Susan Manoff Piano
25	I Wonder As I Wander (American)	3:30			$0.99