Sandrine Piau – Si j’ai aime (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Sandrine Piau invites us for a stroll through the heart of romantic French melody with the musicians of the Concert de la Loge playing on period instruments. Known at the beginning of her career as a prominent performer of Baroque song, Sandrine Piau admits that she was nourished by 19th and 20th-century French music from an early age, at a time when she dreamed of becoming a harpist. Palazzetto Bru Zane are therefore going back to their roots, co-producing this album with the Alpha Classics label. Most of the tracks on this album are real discoveries, like these exquisite mini-works by Massenet, Pierné, Dubois, Godard or Guilmant. And what a wonderful idea to have also slipped the real gem that is Aux étoiles between these melodies, the short night-time instrumental that Henri Duparc wrote in 1910. Almost blind, the composer had dictated the orchestration to the very young Ernest Ansermet, who created it shortly afterwards, conducting the Montreux Kursaal Orchestra. A departure from the usual piano accompaniment, these melodies take on an additional grace and elegance in their orchestral setting, under the subtle and diaphanous direction of Julien Chauvin. – François Hudry

Tracklist:
1 Extase 03:42
2 Papillons 03:23
3 Promenade matinale 03:29
4 Les Nuits d’été, H. 81: Au cimetière 05:17
5 Le Poète et le Fantôme 03:32
6 Album pour mes petits amis, Op. 14: Chanson d’autrefois 01:59
7 Si j’ai parlé… Si j’ai aimé 02:48
8 Les Nuits d’été, H. 81: Villanelle 01:59
9 Musiques sur l’eau: Promenade à l’étang 03:13
10 Trois mélodies, Op. 11: Beaux papillons blancs 01:31
11 Aux étoiles 04:44
12 Ce que dit le silence 03:13
13 Sous le saule 02:44
14 Aimons-nous 03:39
15 Valse très lente 03:38
16 L’enlèvement 01:53
17 Symphonie gothique, Op. 23: Grave 05:44
18 Plaisir d’amour 02:48