Sandrine Piau - Debussy: Mélodies
Soprano Sandrine Piau follows her exciting all-Mozart aria recital with a disc of Debussymelodies, where subtlety and declamatory elegance replace coloratura fireworks. Piau’s sparing use of vibrato testifies to her acclaim as a singer of early music, and it’s "authentic" for turn-of-the-century music too. Her refined soprano is a quality instrument, though some may prefer the richer voice of Juliane Banse, whose recentMozart-Debussy recital on ECMduplicates some of the material. But Piau covers more ground, including the 1913Trois poémesde Stéphane Mallarmé and a brace of early songs from the 1880s since her well-chosen program spans Debussy’s life-long interest inmelodies. She captures his idiom well--just listen to the delicacy of her phrasing inC’est l’extaseand the floating, disembodied close ofDe rêveandSoupir, among many such instances on this disc. Of special interest are the mellow-sounding piano accompaniments of Jos van Immerseel, playing an 1897 Erard, an instrument whose timbre Debussy would have expected in these songs.--Dan Davis