Sometimes a melody is all it takes to evoke a whole lifetime of memories. In Idylle, mezzo soprano Lea Desandre and lute player Thomas Dunford pour three centuries of French love music into a long, languorous flow of emotions. From quiet airs de cour to the melancholic melodies of Claude Debussy; from the bard of the Belle Epoque, Reynaldo Hahn, to the chansonnières Françoise Hardy and Barbara: desire, happiness and sadness appear in ever-changing guises. The combination of Desandres’ expressive voice and Dunford’s poetic lute playing creates a rare closeness in which layers of time dissolve and music becomes a game of touching and letting go. Don’t expect a sentimental sound picture: this is a panoramic portrait of Queen Love.
Program
Songs by M. Lambert, S. Le Camus, H. D’Ambruys, M.A. Charpentier, R. de Visée, J. Offenbach, A. Messager, C. Debussy, E. Satie, R. Hahn, Barbara, F. Hardy
Performers
Lea Desandre, mezzo sopraNo | Thomas Dunford, lute