account
basket
Challenge Records Int. logo
Mirages
Gabriel Fauré

Bettina Smith | Jan Willem Nelleke

Mirages

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Lawo Classics
UPC: 7090020181684
Catnr: LWC 1146
Release date: 09 March 2018
Buy
1 CD
✓ in stock
€ 19.95
Buy
 
Label
Lawo Classics
UPC
7090020181684
Catalogue number
LWC 1146
Release date
09 March 2018
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
DE

About the album

THE FLOWER OF GENIUS AND FRENCH MÉLODIE
‘It is truly in his songs that Fauré reveals the flower of his genius’, wrote the composer’s former pupil Maurice Ravel. More than a hundred songs written over six decades made Fauré perhaps the greatest master of the genre French “mélodie”.

The present collection takes us on a journey from Fauré’s first song cycle, “Poème d’un jour” (1878), to his last, “L’Horizon chimérique” (1921), via the exultant “La Bonne Chanson” (1892-94) and the intensely concentrated “Mirages” of 1919. The songs have texts by French poets of Fauré’s time; here we find poems of Charles Grandmougin, Baronne de Brimont, Paul Verlaine and Jean de La Ville de Mirmont.

“Mirages” concludes Bettina Smith’s project for LAWO Classics of recording all of Gabriel Fauré’s cycles for voice and piano. It was preceded in this series by “Fêtes Galantes” (LWC1116) and “Serres Chaudes” (LWC1008), both together with pianist Einar Røttingen. Together they have also released “Voices of Women”, with songs of Fartein Valen, Jostein Stalheim and Ketil Hvoslef, composers from Norway’s west coast.

Mezzo-soprano Bettina Smith is from Bergen. After graduating from Bergen Conservatory of Music, she studied with Wout Oosterkamp and Elly Ameling at the Royal Conservatory of Music in the Hague. This was followed by two years at the Zürich International Opera Studio. With a wide repertory ranging from medieval to contemporary music, Bettina Smith appears regularly as oratorio and cantata soloist, or together with pianists Jan Willem Nelleke and Einar Røttingen.

Dutch pianist Jan Willem Nelleke’s exceptional qualities as a duo partner have been widely recognised. His playing has been described as “sparkling raindrops, rich chords and beautiful interludes” and as an “ever alert co-operation with the soloist”.
DIE BLUME DES GENIES UND DER FRANZÖSISCHEN MÉLODIE
Es ist wahrhaftig in seinen Liedern, dass Fauré die Blume seines Genies enthüllt", schrieb der ehemalige Schüler des Komponisten Maurice Ravel. Mehr als hundert Lieder, die über sechs Jahrzehnte geschrieben wurden, machten Fauré zum vielleicht größten Meister des französischen Genres "mélodie".
Die vorliegende Sammlung nimmt uns mit auf eine Reise von Faurés erstem Liederzyklus "Poème d'un jour" (1878) bis zu seinem letzten "L'Horizon chimérique" (1921), über den jubelnden "La Bonne Chanson" (1892-94) bis hin zu den intensiv konzentrierten "Mirages" von 1919. Die Lieder haben Texte französischer Dichter aus der Zeit Faurés; hier finden wir Gedichte von Charles Grandmougin, Baronne de Brimont, Paul Verlaine und Jean de La Ville de Mirmont.
“Mirages" schließt Bettina Smiths Projekt für LAWO Classics mit der Aufnahme aller Zyklen von Gabriel Fauré für Gesang und Klavier ab. Vorausgegangen sind in dieser Reihe "Fêtes Galantes" (LWC1116) und "Serres Chaudes" (LWC1008), beide zusammen mit dem Pianisten Einar Røttingen. Gemeinsam haben sie auch "Voices of Women" veröffentlicht, mit Liedern von Fartein Valen, Jostein Stalheim und Ketil Hvoslef, Komponisten der norwegischen Westküste.
Die Mezzosopranistin Bettina Smith stammt aus Bergen. Nach ihrem Abschluss am Bergen Conservatory of Music studierte sie bei Wout Oosterkamp und Elly Ameling am Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Haag. Es folgten zwei Jahre am Internationalen Opernstudio Zürich. Mit einem breiten Repertoire von mittelalterlicher bis zeitgenössischer Musik tritt Bettina Smith regelmäßig als Oratorien- und Kantaten-Solistin oder zusammen mit den Pianisten Jan Willem Nelleke und Einar Røttingen auf.
Die außergewöhnlichen Qualitäten des niederländischen Pianisten Jan Willem Nelleke als Duo-Partner sind weithin anerkannt. Sein Spiel wird als "funkelnde Regentropfen, reiche Akkorde und schöne Zwischenspiele" und als "immer wachsame Zusammenarbeit mit dem Solisten" beschrieben.

Artist(s)

Bettina Smith (mezzo soprano)

Bettina Smith is from Bergen, Norway. After graduating from the Bergen Conservatory of Music, she studied with Wout Oosterkamp and Elly Ameling at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Haag, Holland, receiving a Masters Degree with distinction. This was followed by specialized study in Switzerland at the Zürich International Opera Studio. Bettina has since performed in Europe’s leading opera houses and concert halls and at major European festivals. With a wide repertoire ranging from medieval to contemporary music, Bettina Smith appears regularly as an oratorio and cantata soloist, in addition to being an active chamber-musician. Her special love for the French and German art-song repertoire, makes her a frequent guest artist at festivals and concert series in Norway and abroad,...
more
Bettina Smith is from Bergen, Norway. After graduating from the Bergen Conservatory of Music, she studied with Wout Oosterkamp and Elly Ameling at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Haag, Holland, receiving a Masters Degree with distinction. This was followed by specialized study in Switzerland at the Zürich International Opera Studio. Bettina has since performed in Europe’s leading opera houses and concert halls and at major European festivals.
With a wide repertoire ranging from medieval to contemporary music, Bettina Smith appears regularly as an oratorio and cantata soloist, in addition to being an active chamber-musician. Her special love for the French and German art-song repertoire, makes her a frequent guest artist at festivals and concert series in Norway and abroad, together with the Dutch pianist Jan Willem Nelleke and the Norwegian pianist Einar Røttingen.
Festivals, opera houses and concert halls at which Bettina has performed include Bergen International Festival, Festspiele Zürich, Rhijnauwen Chamber Music Festival, Utrecht Early Music Festival, Mozart-Tage and Bach-Tage Luzern, Brahms Festival Den Haag, Hindemith Festival Den Haag, Stravinsky Festival 2000 Amsterdam, Staatsoper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, KKL Luzern, Fresh Voices Festival San Francisco, De Doelen Rotterdam, Grieg 07, Fartein Valen Festival, Euterpe and Laudinella St. Moritz.
Bettina has recorded for Dutch, German, Swiss and Norwegian Radio and has received several prestigious scholarships, among them, the Edwin Ruud Stipend and the Herbert von Karajan Music Legacy. In 2001 she was a prizewinner in the Francesco Viñas Competition in Barcelona, where she received a special prize awarded by Dalton Baldwin for outstanding lieder singing.
She has previously released three critically acclaimed CDs on the LAWO Classics label with pianist Einar Røttingen: "Serres Chaudes" (LWC1008), with songs by Fauré, Chausson and Saint-Saëns; "Voices of Women" (LWC1067), with songs by Norwegian composers Valen, Stalheim and Hvoslef; and "Fêtes Galantes" (LWC1116), with songs by Debussy and Fauré.
Bettina Smith is Associate Professor of singing at the Faculty of Performing Arts, University of Stavanger, Norway.

less

Jan Willem Nelleke (piano)

Dutch pianist Jan Willem Nelleke’s exceptional qualities as a duo partner have been widely recognised; he has established duo partnerships with mezzo-soprano Bettina Smith, flautist Philippa Davies, cellist Karine Georgian, and baritone Frans Huijts and performs frequently with them throughout Europe. His playing has been described as ‘sparkling raindrops, rich chords and beautiful interludes’ and an ‘ever alert co-operation with the soloist’. Himself a noted composer of songs and chamber music, he has also produced a large number of arrangements that have regularly found their way into the repertoire. Jan Willem studied with Else Krijgsman at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and with Thom Bollen in Utrecht. Recordings include chamber music by Poulenc, works for cello and piano by Schumann, Schubert’s 'Winterreise',...
more
Dutch pianist Jan Willem Nelleke’s exceptional qualities as a duo partner have been widely recognised; he has established duo partnerships with mezzo-soprano Bettina Smith, flautist Philippa Davies, cellist Karine Georgian, and baritone Frans Huijts and performs frequently with them throughout Europe. His playing has been described as ‘sparkling raindrops, rich chords and beautiful interludes’ and an ‘ever alert co-operation with the soloist’.
Himself a noted composer of songs and chamber music, he has also produced a large number of arrangements that have regularly found their way into the repertoire.
Jan Willem studied with Else Krijgsman at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and with Thom Bollen in Utrecht.
Recordings include chamber music by Poulenc, works for cello and piano by Schumann, Schubert’s "Winterreise", as well as the Gershwin "Piano Concerto" following a critically lauded performance at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
In addition to his performance schedule, Jan Willem Nelleke is in great demand as a coach. He teaches at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and at the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria.

less

Composer(s)

Gabriel Fauré

Gabriel Fauré was a French Romantic composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, Nocturnes for piano and the songs Après un rêve and Clair de lune. Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly regarded works in his later years, in a more harmonically and melodically complex style. Fauré's music has been described as linking the end of Romanticism with the modernism of the second quarter of the 20th century. When he was born, Chopin was still composing, and by the time of Fauré's death,...
more
Gabriel Fauré was a French Romantic composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, Nocturnes for piano and the songs Après un rêve and Clair de lune. Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly regarded works in his later years, in a more harmonically and melodically complex style.
Fauré's music has been described as linking the end of Romanticism with the modernism of the second quarter of the 20th century. When he was born, Chopin was still composing, and by the time of Fauré's death, jazz and the atonal music of the Second Viennese School were being heard. During the last twenty years of his life, he suffered from increasing deafness. In contrast with the charm of his earlier music, his works from this period are sometimes elusive and withdrawn in character, and at other times turbulent and impassioned.

less

Press

Play album Play album
01.
Poème d?un jour, Op. 21: I. Rencontre
02:07
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
02.
Poème d?un jour, Op. 21: II. Toujours
01:14
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
03.
Poème d?un jour, Op. 21: III. Adieu
02:20
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
04.
Mirages, Op. 113: I. Cygne sur l?eau
03:46
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
05.
Mirages, Op. 113: II. Reflets dans l?eau
04:42
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
06.
Mirages, Op. 113: III. Jardin nocturne
02:54
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
07.
Mirages, Op. 113: IV. Danseuse
02:05
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
08.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: I. Une sainte en son auréole
01:57
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
09.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: II. Puisque l?aube grandit
01:54
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
10.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: III. La lune blanche luit dans les bois
02:24
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
11.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: IV. J?allais par des chemins perfides
01:49
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
12.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: V. J?ai presque peur, en vérité
02:14
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
13.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: VI. Avant que tu ne t?en ailles
03:07
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
14.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: VII. Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d?été
02:39
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
15.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: VIII. N?est-ce pas?
02:29
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
16.
La bonne chanson, Op. 61: IX. L?Hiver a cessé
03:02
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
17.
L?Horizon chimérique, Op. 118: I. La mer est infinie
01:37
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
18.
L?Horizon chimérique, Op. 118: II. Je me suis embarqué
02:18
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
19.
L?Horizon chimérique, Op. 118: III. Diane, Séléné
02:25
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
20.
L?Horizon chimérique, Op. 118: IV. Vaisseaux, nous vous aurons aimés
01:43
(Gabriel Fauré) Jan Willem Nelleke, Bettina Smith
show all tracks

You might also like..

Various composers
The Silk Road
Oslo Kammerakademi
Sigurd Lie
Sigurd Lie: Songs, Vol. 2
Marianne Beate Kielland
Sigurd Lie
Songs, Vol. 1
Marianne Beate Kielland | Nils Anders Mortensen
Various composers
Seraph
Tine Thing Helseth
Jean Sibelius
Orchestral Songs
Marianne Beate Kielland
Various composers
Loudmouthed Beauty
Clare Farr
Max Bruch, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Samuel Barber
Bruch / Vaughan Williams / Barber
Sonoko Miriam Welde
Signe Lund
Impromptu - Works By The Young Signe Lund
Rune Alver
Various composers
Norwegian Opera Overtures
The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra
Various composers
Chanson et danses - French Chamber Music for Winds
Oslo Kammerakademi
Magical Memories
Tine Thing Helseth / Kåre Nordstoga
Various composers
The Artist's Secret
Bettina Smith / Jan Willem Nelleke