Description
PROGRAM
Quatre chansons de jeunesse
Achille-Claude Debussy
(1862—1918)
Pantomime
Clair de lune
Pierrot
Apparition
Me voilà seule dans la nuit...Comme autrefois Georges Bizet
(from Les pêcheurs de perles) (1838–1875)
Intermission
Les fleurs me paraissent plus belles... Pourquoi dans les grand bois Léo Delibes
(from Lakmé) (1836–1891)
Fiançailles pour rire
Francis Poulenc
(1899–1963)
La Dame d'André
Dans l'herbe
Il vole
Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant
Violon
Fleurs
from Lakmé Léo Delibes
Où va la jeune Hindoue
Sous le ciel tout étoilé
This recital presents a selection of French songs and arias by Bizet, Delibes, Debussy, and Poulenc—composers whose works span the late Romantic to early modern eras and together form a vivid portrait of French vocal art.
Though separated by a few decades, Debussy, Poulenc, Bizet, and Delibes all stand within the lineage of French lyric expression. From Bizet and Delibes in the late Romantic era—whose operas blended sensual melody with refined orchestral color—emerged a tradition of musical elegance and text sensitivity that shaped Debussy's impressionistic songs. Poulenc, inheriting this legacy, transformed it through wit, irony, and modern harmonic language, yet retained the same devotion to the French poetic word. Together, these composers represent the evolution of French vocal art—from romantic lyricism to symbolist subtlety and twentieth-century sophistication—united by their shared pursuit of color, clarity, and emotional nuance.
