Karina More

The Notenbuchlein (or “Little Music Book”) for Anna Magdalena Bach is one of the most affectionate and tangible means by which we can glimpse an aspect of the Bach family ‘off duty’, so-to-speak. Bach began this anthology devoted mainly to the keyboard for his second wife in 1722, having three years earlier done the same for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann. Musically speaking, the most important contents are five suites which, with some additional material and a sixth suite, were to become the French Suites (BWV812-7). But it is the remaining pieces which convey such warm intimacy to us, looking, as it were, through the window.

Nuits blanches (White Nights) is a much anticipated new recording by soprano Karina Gauvin, who stylishly animates the opera heroines of the 18th century Russian court. Musical life during the reign of Tsar Peter the Great was a rich blend of diverse styles and influences originating from all over Europe. The Tsar was known for his love of music, a tradition that was carried on by his successors, the Empresses Anne, Elizabeth, and Catherine II, who cultivated cosmopolitan tastes for all kinds of music, including opera.

Fête Galante, a 1999 release featuring soprano Karina Gauvin and pianist Marc-André Hamelin, won numerous awards, and the outstanding performances on this 2011 reissue confirm how well-deserved those honors were. Gauvin has an exceptional voice – clarion-bright, warm, confident, and agile, with a variegated palette of colors – and her effortlessly incisive interpretive skills give depth and life to everything she sings. The distinctiveness and character she brings to these songs show a terrific grasp of the genre of the mélodie, from the late 19th century songs by Fauré and the young Debussy to the mid-20th works by Poulenc, Honegger, and Émile Vuillermoz.