Performed by Claire Booth (soprano) and Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano)
CD released 7 February 2025.
Our second recording with Claire Booth and Andrew Matthews-Owen presents songs composed and performed in Paris around 1913 by composers including André Caplet, Darius Milhaud, Reynaldo Hahn, Maurice Ravel, Georges Auric, Guy Roparts, Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, Cécile de Chaminade, Claude Debussey, Erik Satie, Lili Boulanger and Gabriel Grovlez. The highlight of the collection is the world première recording of Louis Durey’s L’Offrande lyrique (Op. 4), six songs set to texts by Rabindranath Tagore (recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature) in French translation by André Gide.
“an absorbing collection best heard as a diverse while unpredictable totality.……there is much to fascinate even those who consider themselves aficionados of the ‘chanson’, and those who are unfamiliar with much of this repertoire could not have a better means of acquainting themselves with certain of its treasures – hidden or otherwise.” Richard Whitehouse, Arcana, 7th March 2025
“Lyrical and crystal-clear, Booth and Matthews-Owen leave the listener pleasantly rewarded and refreshed” The Times, 4th February 2025.
“a diverse presentation that rewards many times over….spectacular performances by Booth and Matthews-Owen that truly make the recording the standout that it is” Textura, January 2025
“There is much to derive pleasure from on this disc” Mike Parr, Music Web International, February 2025
English translations of the songs are here.