Boulanger Songs get excllent performance
Robert O. Christiansen | Glendale, CA | 09/16/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you are a fan of the works of this wonderful French female composer cut down by TB well before she had achieved what might have been her finest work, you will welcome this excellent recital of her songs. She was the first woman to win the Prix de Rome and studied composition with her sister Nadia as well as that doyen of the mélodie, Gabriel Fauré. Because of her short life span (1893-1918) there are not a great number of works; her large choral works have recently been recorded in stunning performances conducted by John Eliot Gardener, and this CD makes a significant contribution to her songs. In particular, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt's reading of the song cycle "Clearings in the Sky" was a real revelation. I have three other recordings of this cycle but this one tops all the others in terms of vocal technique and interpretaive insight."