ECM New Series: Juliane Banse & András Schiff — Songs of Debussy and Mozart Audio CD

Brand new! Factory packaged! As pictured! Buy with confidence!

Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: ECM New Series
• Performers: Juliane Banse (soprano), András Schiff (piano)
• Composers: Claude Debussy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Producer: Manfred Eicher
• Release Year: 2003
• Genre: Classical
• Style: Art Song, Mélodie, Lied
• Catalog Number: ECM 1772 / 461899-2
• UPC: 028946189924
• Condition: Factory Sealed

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 1
• Total Runtime: 60:04
• Packaging: Digipak (cardboard sleeve), factory shrink-wrapped

Overview

Juliane Banse and András Schiff recorded this 60-minute programme of Debussy and Mozart songs for ECM New Series in 2003, and it remains one of the label's most quietly distinguished vocal releases. The pairing of these two composers is less obvious than it looks: Debussy's French mélodies and Mozart's German Lieder occupy entirely different emotional and harmonic worlds, yet both traditions demand the same virtues from performers — clarity of diction, sensitivity to poetry, and absolute parity between voice and piano.

Schiff is among the finest accompanists in the business when he chooses to be, and his Debussy is a revelation: harmonically luminous, with a touch that suits the impressionist colours of "Beau soir," "Clair de lune" (the song, not the piano piece), and the Fêtes galantes and Ariettes oubliées cycles. Banse brings a bright, well-focused soprano that serves both languages cleanly — her French diction is precise, her German equally natural.

The Mozart half covers eight songs, including the beloved "Das Veilchen" (K. 476, to Goethe's text), the tender "Abendempfindung" (K. 523), and the charming "Sehnsucht nach dem Frühlinge" (K. 596). Together with Debussy's cycles, the disc builds a programme of genuine depth and variety within a single sitting. ECM's production quality, as always, is exceptional.

Interesting Facts

• Juliane Banse (born 1969, Altdorf, Germany) studied in Stuttgart and Zürich and built her reputation equally in lieder, opera, and contemporary music; she has worked regularly with conductors including Abbado, Harnoncourt, and Rattle.
• András Schiff (born Budapest, 1953) is one of the most celebrated pianists of his generation, known above all for his Bach and Schubert; his work as an accompanist — relatively rare for pianists of his stature — is consistently praised for its musicianship and restraint.
• "Das Veilchen" (K. 476), Mozart's setting of Goethe's poem about a violet crushed underfoot, is considered one of the finest German art songs of the 18th century and a direct precursor to the Romantic Lied tradition.
• Debussy's Ariettes oubliées (1888), setting six poems by Paul Verlaine, were among his earliest mature songs and established the sensibility — atmosphere over narrative, colour over structure — that would define his subsequent output.
• The Fêtes galantes settings (Verlaine) were composed in two sets in 1891 and 1904; the first set, recorded here, includes the hauntingly simple "En sourdine" and the playful "Fantoches."
• ECM New Series has built one of the most distinctive catalogues in classical vocal recording, with a consistent preference for intimate combinations — voice and piano, small chamber ensembles — recorded in close, natural acoustics.

Track Listing

Claude Debussy:

• Beau soir (Bourget)
• Clair de lune (Verlaine)
• Pierrot (Banville)
• Apparition (Mallarmé)
• Pantomime (Verlaine)
• Fêtes galantes, 1er livre (Verlaine): En sourdine / Fantoches / Clair de lune
• Ariettes oubliées (Verlaine): C'est l'extase langoureuse / Il pleure dans mon cœur / L'ombre des arbres / Chevaux de bois / Green / Spleen

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

• Dans un bois solitaire KV 308
• Oiseaux, si tous les ans KV 307
• Warnung KV 433
• Der Zauberer KV 472
• Das Veilchen KV 476
• Sehnsucht nach dem Frühlinge KV 596
• Als Luise die Briefe ihres untreuen Liebhabers verbrannte KV 520
• Abendempfindung KV 523

Total: 60:04

Publishers

℗ & © 2003 ECM Records GmbH, München. Produced by Manfred Eicher.

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