Till Solveig - Karen Vourc'h, Susan Manoff (2010) / AvaxHome

“In the works by Grieg, we wanted there to be unity in the language. So To brune ojne and Jeg elsker dig, by the Danish poet Andersen, are sung in Norwegian. The songs of Op. 48, settings of various German poems, were translated by the poet Nordahl Rolfsen, who was a close friend of Grieg’s. And I have chosen to sing his translations of the two German poems, by Goethe and von Bodenstedt: En drøm (Ein Traum) and I rosentiden (Zur Rosenzeit). They are usually sung in German. In Grieg there is no tragedy, but instead a gentle Nordic melancholy.

In Sibelius, on the other hand, nature is brutal and love is passionate. Never has the personification of nature been as present as it is in these songs. Here, everything evokes the end of winter and the gushing waters of spring (Marssno, Men min fagel), betrayal (Se n har jag, Flickan kom ifran), despair and weariness with life, conveyed by the image of a rose tree growing in the heart (Svarta rosor); I thought it was interesting to include the song En slanda, in which the music, rather than the poem itself, evokes a dragonfly, symbolising the pleasures of life which come to distract the mind of a person who is lost in thought. The idea of completing this recording with Debussy’s very sensual evocations of amorous desire expressed in the three Chansons de Bilitis came quite naturally. Apparition is for me one of Mallarmé’s finest poems, and in his setting Debussy conveys perfectly the ecstatic yet unsettling feelings caused by love at first sight.

We chose to end this recording with Beau Soir. This infinitely gentle song invites us to contemplate nature and the natural cycle of water and of human life.” Karen Vourc’h

Karen Vourc’h studies with Christa Ludwig. In 2010, she will be Annina in Menotti's Saint of Bleeker Street at the Opéra de Marseille, Musetta at the Opéra de Monaco, Mélisande at the Opéra Comique, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and Vincenette (Mireille) at the Chorégies d' Orange. In March she shared the rôle of Emilie in Kaia Saariaho’s new opera, with Karita Mattila, to good reviews.

Composer: Claude Debussy, Edvard Grieg, Ture Rangström, Jean Sibelius
Performer: Karen Vourc'h, Susan Manoff

Reviews: The predominantly Scandinavian repertory on this album might seem an odd choice for a French soprano, but Karen Vourc'h, a former physics student, is of partly Norwegian background A few of the Grieg songs, such as Solveig's Song (track 5), are familiar recital items, but much of Vourc'h's material is unusual. The Grieg songs, even where originally in other languages, are sung in Norwegian. A group of songs by Jean Sibelius is in Swedish, and Vourc'h makes a good case for these little-known, rough-hewn pieces. Lesser known still is Ture Rangström's Pan (track 9), a gorgeous interlude of deep summer in the middle of the program. Vourc'h returns to more familiar ground with a set of Debussy songs at the end. What's most impressive is how she modulates her voice among the various styles present in this little vocal recital, with a soft, luxuriant sound in the Grieg, a rougher edge in the Sibelius, and a classic repose in Debussy's concluding Beau soir. There isn't a dull moment in this performance of largely fresh material, and Vourc'h makes it seem both personal and perfectly controlled. Highly recommended.

Tracklisting:

Edvard Grieg
[1] I Rosentiden
[2] Jeg elsker dig!
[3] En drøm
[4] En Svane
[5] To brune øjne
[6] Solveigs sang
[7] Killingdans
[8] Med en vandlilje

Ture Rangström
[9] Pan

Jean Sibelius
[10] Se'n har jag ej frågat mera
[11] Marssnön
[12] Men min fågel märks doch icke
[13] Svarta Rosor
[14] En slända
[15] Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte

Claude Debussy
[16]-[18] Trois Chansons de Bilitis
[19] Apparition
[20] Beau Soir

EAC

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 9. November 2014, 14:05

Karen Vourc'h, Susan Manoff / Till Solveig

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Range status and errors

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