Ernest Chausson and Claude Debussy were compatriots, near-contemporaries, and, for a time, close friends, although the differences between them have led posterity to consign them to entirely different eras. But for Chausson's untimely death in a bicycle accident on the eve of the 20th century, this creator of some of French romanticism's most elegant, graceful songs and chamber music may well have accompanied Debussy into more daring modernist waters. The young soprano Christine Schäfer pairs the two composers' mélodies in this superb recital. What her voice may presently lack in size or variety of color is scarcely missed in these acute and subtle interpretations, and ...
Ernest Chausson and Claude Debussy were compatriots, near-contemporaries, and, for a time, close friends, although the differences between them have led posterity to consign them to entirely different eras. But for Chausson's untimely death in a bicycle accident on the eve of the 20th century, this creator of some of French romanticism's most elegant, graceful songs and chamber music may well have accompanied Debussy into more daring modernist waters. The young soprano Christine Schäfer pairs the two composers' mélodies in this superb recital. What her voice may presently lack in size or variety of color is scarcely missed in these acute and subtle interpretations, and she is more than capable of taking a lyrical effusion to a dramatic peak, as in Chausson's best-known song, "Les Temps des lilas." Remarkable too is her skill at unfolding long, expressive lines, especially with the slow, often languid speeds adopted here. Schäfer has excellent collaborators at her side: Irwin Gage is a model of sensitive accompaniment at the keyboard, and mezzo-soprano Stella Doufexis proves a fine match for Schäfer in the lovely Chausson duets that close the program. Collectors will want to note that two recently rediscovered songs from Debussy's abandoned cycle "Nuits blanches" are included -- their second recording after François Le Roux's recent Debussy recital. Trancelike and verging on ecstasy, Schäfer presents these exquisite songs with a sense of wonder too powerful to escape being captivated by.
New York Times
- Paul Griffiths
Especially in the songs Debussy wrote to his own poems -- the Proses Lyriques and the only recently published Nuits Blanches -- Ms. Schäfer calls to mind the child character Yniold in the composer's opera Pelléas et Mélisande. Like Yniold, she sounds like someone aware beyond her years, or like someone maintaining a shield of innocence against the onslaught of intolerable facts.
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Editorial Reviews
Barnes & Noble - Scott Paulin
Ernest Chausson and Claude Debussy were compatriots, near-contemporaries, and, for a time, close friends, although the differences between them have led posterity to consign them to entirely different eras. But for Chausson's untimely death in a bicycle accident on the eve of the 20th century, this creator of some of French romanticism's most elegant, graceful songs and chamber music may well have accompanied Debussy into more daring modernist waters. The young soprano Christine Schäfer pairs the two composers' mélodies in this superb recital. What her voice may presently lack in size or variety of color is scarcely missed in these acute and subtle interpretations, and ...