"Chansons pour les mois d'hiver" is perhaps the best CD Isabelle Boulay has released to date. Mme Boulay needn't have been worried whether the songs included in her CD would work. It is a beautiful CD, in both the vocals and instrumentation. This CD allows one to lay back, close one's eyes, and enter into a relaxed and pleasant state.
Horacio Vaggione has been integrating computers to his approach to composition since the 1970s. His body of work includes electroacoustic pieces, mixed pieces, and instrumental music. Born in 1943 in Argentina, Vaggione has been residing in France since 1978. He studied piano with Ornella Ballestreri and composition at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina, 1959-62) and in Buenos Aires (Argentina) with Juan Carlos Paz. He holds a PhD in musicology from Université Paris 8 (France, 1983), where he worked under Daniel Charles.
It would not, perhaps, be too much of a stretch to think of Marc-Antoine Charpentier as a sort of late 17th century Poulenc. Poulenc is known for two distinct artistic faces, one a comedian of the zaniest sort, and the other capable of expressing the most profound emotional depth. Charpentier's work lay in almost complete obscurity for nearly two centuries when in the late 20 century it began being brought to light, revealing one of the most fertile and inventive musical minds of the Baroque. He has been known almost exclusively for his religious music, and particularly for his gift for expressing the darkest grief.