Lucile Richardot and Anne de Fornel’s latest album has received critical acclaim
released on 24th february this year, lucile richardot and anne de fornel’s latest album has received raving reviews
Featuring the complete melodies by the Boulanger sisters, Nadia and Lili, Lucile Richardot and Anne de Fornel’s recent album produced by Harmonia Mundi has been praised by the critics. The duo have had several concerts since the release, performing some of the music recorded there live. The latest concert took place at the Abbaye de Royaumont on 18th June where the duo reprised some of the music from the album. See the programme below!
Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) Versailles, Mon âme, Le Couteau, Doute, Ilda, Soir d’hiver, Les Heures Claires, Le Ciel en nuit s’est déplié, Vous m’avez dit, J’ai frappé, Soleils couchants, Un grand sommeil noir, Cantique, Mon cœur
Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924) Les berceaux op. 23 n° 1 (1879)
Lili Boulanger (1893 – 1918) Reflets, Le retour
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REVIEWS: Les Heures Claires
Télérama
Anne de Fornel et Lucile Richardot ....sur les deux premiers disques de cette impressionnante somme mélodique.
Anne de Fornel and Lucile Richardot ....on the first two discs of this impressive melodic sum.
L’Obs
Bravo à Lucile Richardot.... Anne de Fornel.... Pour ce bel hommage!
Congratulations to Lucile Richardot.... Anne de Fornel.... For this beautiful tribute!
de Volkskrant
...maar mezzosopraan Lucile Richardot en pianist Anne de Fornel hebben het wel heel grondig aangepakt.... Richardot legt compromisloos de intense gevoelens bloot die onder hun noten schuilgaan. Luister, bijvoorbeeld, naar de ijslaag in haar stem boven Lili’s naargeestige akkoorden in Dans l’immense tristesse....De Fornel is de onschatbare constante in dit fantastische recital, dat verrijkt is met de bevlogen bijdrage van bariton Stéphane Degout....
But mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot and pianist Anne de Fornel have been very thorough.... Richardot uncompromisingly exposes the intense feelings that lie beneath the notes. Listen, for example, to the layer of ice in her voice above Lili's dreary chords in Dans l'immense tristesse....De Fornel is the invaluable constant in this fantastic recital, enriched by the inspired contribution of baritone Stéphane Degout....
Theartsdesk.com
All of this is done to an exceptionally high standard.
Diapason
(...) Ces indications, Lucile Richardot les restitue fidèlement, à son meilleur dans les plus poignants poèmes de Nadia…ou l'opératique Le Retour de Lili. En duo avec Stéphane Degout, Les Heures Claires de Nadia livrent de belles couleurs (...) Seuls la mezzo et le baryton osent un « historicisme » qui, s'il peut faire débat, s'avère ici parfaitement défendu. Emaillant les mélodies, quelques pièces instrumentales invitent avec bonheur le piano solo - Anne de Fornel s'y révèle tout aussi éloquente et expressive que dans les mélodies.
(...) These indications, Lucile Richardot restores them faithfully, at her best in the most poignant poems by Nadia…or the opera The Return of Lili. In duet with Stéphane Degout, Les Heures Claires by Nadia, they deliver beautiful colours (...) Only the mezzo and the baritone dare to portray a "historicism" which, if it can be debated, is well defended here. Decorating the melodies, some instrumental pieces happily invite the solo piano - Anne de Fornel reveals herself to be just as eloquent and expressive as in the melodies.
ArtaMag’
Le timbre de sa grande caisse fait écho au mezzo ambré, sombre, de Lucile Richardot et au baryton enveloppant de Stéphane Degout.
The timbre of the piano’s large wooden case echoes Lucile Richardot's dark, amber mezzo and Stéphane Degout’s enveloping baritone.
Première Loge
Interprète de la majorité du corpus, Lucile Richardot recrée sans affèterie la déclamation juste et raffinée des mélodistes de la Belle Epoque, de Jeanne Raunay à Claire Croiza (une amie des sœurs Boulanger). Elle élargit ainsi son répertoire déjà impressionnant, du médiéval au baroque. La singularité de son timbre sans vibrato prend un relief expressif sur les ondulations que prodigue Anne de Fornel, muse de la poésie dans tout prélude ou interlude pianistique.
Interpreting the majority of the works, Lucile Richardot recreates these pieces without the facade of the precise and refined declamation of the melodists of the Belle Epoque, from Jeanne Raunay to Claire Croiza (a friend of the Boulanger sisters). She thus expands her already impressive repertoire, from medieval to baroque. The singularity of her tone without vibrato takes on an expressive relief in the undulations that Anne de Fornel, muse of poetry, lavishes in any prelude or pianistic interlude.
Classical Music, BBC Music Magazine
Pianist Anne de Fornel is the impressive constant factor, capturing the refined emotional nuances of these exquisite works, while mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot takes the lion’s share of the 55 songs. Beguiling from her first entry in Nadia’s ‘Mon coeur’, she is convincing throughout, burning with controlled passion in Poeme d’amour, playful in ‘Chanson’ and desolate in ‘Soir d’hiver’. Stéphane Degout is equally mesmerising, joining Richardot for ‘Allons voir sur le lac d’argent’, the only duet and one of several first recordings. Appropriately, Richardot and Degout share the songs of Les heures claires, an unusual cycle in being jointly composed by Nadia and Raoul Pugno.
upcoming concerts
6TH AUGUST 2023 | 9PM | The Estivales du Haut Calavon
PROGRAMME
Melodies by Nadia and Lili Boulanger