The English poet WH Auden observed with relief that "no good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible." Throughout his career, he strove to bring his own craft of words closer to song: direct, heartfelt and true.
Two great virtuosi explore the art of song in a CD that was released yesterday. For this her latest recording, Isabelle Moretti invited a singer she has always admired, Dame Felicity Lott. The result is Cantare: the Voice of the Harp, now out on the Naive label. It's a lovely collection of songs, from Donizetti, Poulenc and Britten, to folksongs and two Cancions by Ginastera. The are also pieces where the harp sings alone: Zabel's Fantasie on Gounod's Faust, Isabelle's own transcription of Glinka / Balakirev's beautiful L'Alouette ("the lark"), the Carnaval de Venise by Godefroid, and movements from Debussy's Suite Bergamasque.
Here you can download the Cantare Press release, which includes details of Isabelle Moretti's upcoming concerts. The Cantare launch concert with Dame Felicity will take place on December 21st, 2009, at 8PM at the Paris Comic Opera.
You can also download either the whole album or individual tracks here, and listen to sample excerpts.
