Godard German

Actor and wine buff, Julian Curry, has devised this unique audiobook guide to wine, which takes the listener to the heart of winemaking and wine drinking in a clear but light-hearted manner. However rich and complex the subject of wine may be, he insists it is also hugely rewarding and great fun.

L'invitation au voyage is one of the most famous mélodies of all time, composed around 1870. It was Duparc’s special role in the history of French song to introduce a note of depth and seriousness into a genre that had been notably lacking such qualities during the Second Empire. The inspiration with this composer was Wagnerian (Duparc heard Rheingold in 1869) but his music distils Wagner’s visionary qualities into works of art of great concision and translucence. In this unquestionably French music there is no trace of the megalomania and pomposity that repelled Godard and other French anti-Wagnerians. Duparc embraced the Christian ideals typical of the César Franck circle as a whole; perhaps that is why the pagan resonances of Baudelaire’s ‘Luxe, calme et volupté’ are turned into music of unbelievable refinement—here is purity as well as decadence, rigour and sensuality. With Baudelaire and Duparc we traverse the landscapes of the Dutch East Indies; as in all such journeys, where imagination plays the largest part, we find ourselves flying beyond operatic sets of wood and canvas towards realms previously inaccessible to the French duo of singer and pianist.

Never aging and always giving peace and pleasure … A magical combination of notes, Great sorcerers … Here is the music that sounds in this release, presented to us by Madacy Special Mkts, giving you the opportunity to once again join with a beautiful, in a kind of selection, seemed to have long been familiar to all of us, works …

IN+OUT Records has unearthed another treasure of Eugen Cicero: „Lullabies“, a trio studio recording from 1995 with Decebal Badila on bass and Ringo Hirth on drums. This album was originally only released for the Japanese market and is now available for the first time.