Jardin Nocturne

CD Jardin Nocturne Isabelle Druet

Having always loved stories, words and music, I wanted to create a framework for my recitals and to "narrate" the songs to the audience. Thus this programme, devoted exclusively to French "melodies", came into being. The art songs presented here take us into a nocturnal world, with stories expressing moods ranging from great tenderness to deep despair.
It all began with Berlioz's "Nuits d’été". The first time I sang this cycle I was struck by the power yet gentleness that these pieces emanate. Berlioz originally composed his work for voice and piano and I decided to champion that version for the fine chamber relationship it permits. We have aimed to convey all the intimacy of these songs, attempting extreme dynamics, passages almost in recitative, while retaining the lyricism of Berlioz's work.
The next step was to find more treasures with a similar nocturnal setting. So Johanne Ralambondrainy and I, who have long been accomplices, went through the collections, discovering or rediscovering songs that appealed to us, then whittling those down to the ones we felt were absolutely essential. In some cases we have taken the liberty of removing "mélodies" from the cycle to which they normally belong. We have thus brought together composers we love and "mélodies" we find exciting and original. (...) Finally, I asked Christian Pageault, an actor I particularly appreciate for his precision and dramatic intensity, to join me as narrator, reciting some parts of the poems. The texts you will hear were with me constantly as an inspiration throughout the conception and realisation of this project.
Isabelle Druet