Composer: Hector Berlioz, Jacques Brel, Ernest Chausson, Henri Duparc, Joseph Kosma
Performer: Benjamin Bernheim, Carrie-Ann Matheson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue: 4866155
Release: 2024
Size: 1.39 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Berlioz: Les nuits d’été, H. 81 (Transcr. Matheson for Tenor and Piano)
01. I. Villanelle
02. II. Le spectre de la rose
03. III. Sur les lagunes
04. IV. Absence
05. V. Au cimetière (Clair de lune)
06. VI. L’île inconnue
Chausson: Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Op. 19 (Transcr. Matheson for Tenor and Piano)
07. I. La fleur des eaux
08. II. Interlude
09. III. La mort de l’amour
10. Duparc: L’Invitation au voyage
11. Duparc: Extase
12. Duparc: Phidylé
13. Duparc: La Vie antérieure
14. Kosma: Les feuilles mortes (Arr. Leuenberger for Tenor and Piano)
15. Trenet: Douce France (Arr. Leuenberger for Tenor and Piano)
16. Brel: Quand on n’a que l’amour (Arr. Leuenberger for Tenor and Piano)
French star tenor Benjamin Bernheim announces his first solo song album Douce France: Mélodies & Chansons. Inspired by his long study and experience of French song, Bernheim imaginatively couples the famous 19th-century melodies of Berlioz, Chausson and Duparc with the classic 20th-century chansons by Brel, Kosma and Trenet. While some of these cycles are nowadays associated with the female voice accompanied by orchestra, the tenor was determined to return to the deep intimacy that a keyboard accompaniment can conjure. Bernheim’s regular duo partner, pianist Carrie-Ann Matheson, transcribed the relevant orchestral scores into the more idiomatic versions heard on this album.