Julia Kogan & Isabelle Aboulker – Aboulker: Melodies & Songs (2019) [FLAC 24bit/48kHz]

There is something for everyone in this collection of Isabelle Aboulker’s most beautiful melodies, released in Aboulker’s 80th birth year and sung here by soprano Julia Kogan. The passionate vocalises of Je t’aime sit alongside limpid fables by La Fontaine (The Crow and the Fox, The Lion in Old Age and more), while the unnerving eeriness of the merchant of souls in Au Marche de Saint-Paul contrasts with the light humour of the Savoir-vivre cycle, and the melancholy accents of Lettre d’amour make way for the irresistible charm of L’Inconstante. Isabelle’s prosodic clarity and voluptuous focus on the evocative power of words speak of a deep attachment to the legacy of French song composers. In turn impetuous or melancholy, this thrilling music knows how to aim straight for the heart.

A double CD for the price of one, CD1 features songs in the original French with CD2 presenting the same songs sung in English. Released in Aboulker’s 80th birth year, the album features the composer at the piano and many première recordings.

Tracklist:
CD1 (in French)
1. Le Lion devenu vieux
2. La Chatte métamorphosée en femme
3. L’Inconstante

Savoir vivre et usage mondains
4. …à propos de la chaussette blanche…
5. …comment on offre le bras…
6. …et à propos de gants…

7. Le Loup et l’Agneau
8. La femme qui craignait le tonnerre
9. La Femme noyée
10. Escale à Rio
11. Au marché Saint-Paul, j’irai
12. La Cigale et la Fourmi
13. L’Archet
14. La Tortue et les deux Canards
15. Tenir
16. Lettre d’amour
17. Le Corbeau et le Renard
18. La Princesse au Petit Pois
19. Couplets: Jusqu’au plaisir de nous revoir…
20. Je t’aime: vocalise amoureuse pour soprano éperdue

CD2 (in English – translations by Timothy Ades and Julia Kogan)
1. The Lion in old age
2. The Cat transformed into a Woman
3. The inconstant one

Guide to Fine Etiquette and Worldly Manners
4. …on the subject of White Socks…
5. …offering one’s Arm…
6. …and about Gloves…

7. The Wolf and the Lamb
8. The Woman who feared thunder
9. The drowned Wife
10. Stopover in Rio
11. I am off to the market day
12. The Grasshopper and the Ant
13. The Bow
14. The Tortoise and the Two Ducks
15. Holding
16. Love letter
17. The Crow and the Fox
18. The Princess and the Pea
19. Couplets: We certainly must meet again…
20. I love you: amorous vocalise for distraught soprano

Personnel:
Julia Kogan, soprano
Isabelle Aboulker, piano

Recorded at Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon, UK, 8-10, 12-15 August 2017
24bit, 48kHz hi-resolution recording and mastering
Produced by Peter Bronder and Julia Kogan
Engineered by Daniel Thomason and Peter Bronder • Edited and mastered by Adaq Kahn

Photos taken by: Ben Ealovega, Edmond Rosenfeld and Robin Totterman
Artwork: David Murphy

Download:

mqs.link_JuliaKganIsabelleAbulkerAbulkerMldiesSngs20192448.part1.rar
mqs.link_JuliaKganIsabelleAbulkerAbulkerMldiesSngs20192448.part2.rar