Poulenc: The Human Voice

This recital is a subtle fusion of classical and popular music from different eras and latitudes — a hymn of love to life itself.

This recital is a subtle fusion of classical and popular music from different eras and latitudes – a hymn of love to life itself. It reflects the multifaceted personal journey of mezzo-soprano Anne-Lise Polchlopek and transcends the boundaries between repertoires to explore the universality of human existence and its relationship with time, with nature, and with other human beings.

After exploring the music of his Sephardic ancestry on the acclaimed recording Latino Ladino (Naxos 8573566), Yaniv d’Or brings a refreshing perspective to the Dichterliebe from Schumann’s proverbial ‘year of song’. French songs of the 19th and 20th centuries offer d’Or’s exotic voice further dimensions in the floating harmonies of the young Duparc and Debussy, including Reynaldo Hahn’s beautiful Bach pastiche, and concluding with the classical simplicity of Poulenc’s first songs.

If music be the food of love, play on. This 50-track collection helps to get the romance flowing with endless achingly beautiful melodies, that contemplate and celebrate both the spiritual and sensual sides of love and human affection in full sonic glory.

Chants de l'Aube et du Soir is a lyrical duo drawing inspiration from the genre of French melody. Despite the singular identity of the composer Cyril Achard, the inspiration of the masters is clearly perceptible through the gliding shadow of Fauré, Ravel and other Poulenc, to name but the most influential.

Holger Falk and Steffen Schleiermacher once again prove to be the ideal interpreters of this multi-faceted music: from the smoky nightclub of the "Rue Chagrin", past the synagogue, left at the children's playground and over the cotton fields of America with hints of the blues - this is great art in a small form. In their touching simplicity, some of Germaine Tailleferre's pieces are reminiscent of nursery rhymes.

The second album by former opera star and singer/songwriter Constance Hauman, whose critically acclaimed recording, 'Falling Into Now', made The Guardian's list of the 10 Best Albums of 2015. 'High Tides' features eight new songs written by Hauman and two covers, Everlong by Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Les Chemins de le'Amour by French composer, Francis Poulenc.

Designed as a lyrical recital from Schubert to the 21st century, this programme celebrates voice, poetry, and the piano in a unique genre, piano transcription. This stems from years of cooperation with the lyrical sphere, where musical and human experiences considerably influenced my way of playing and of apprehending music.