
CD Launch: Saturday July 7, 2018 @ 1:00pm at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa – Music and Beyond Festival 2018
Julie Nesrallah – mezzo-soprano
Caroline Léonardelli – harp / harpe
Un Sospiro – Italian Art Songs
Purchase / Listen:
In the vast sea of classical song collections artists have the challenge to create something that is fresh, and unique. Typically art songs are available in a format of composer anthology and performed in the standard piano accompaniment. For this recording the artists have assembled a set of repertoire that has a common thread of the Italian language and plays like a varied concert recital. Eight different composers are featured with Verdi, Puccini, and Respighi writing their songs as a way to launch their operatic and symphonic careers while Tosti and Leoncavallo forged a career of song composition. The songs range from the very well known to the obscure and the subject matter from love, romance, and joy, to betrayal, scorn, and death. The majority of the program is from the late 19th and early 20th century with two early music songs at the end of the set. The final twist is while all the songs were originally composed for piano they are presented here on the concert harp, with many in their premiere on the instrument.
Nos chères artistes ont décidé de concocter un repertoire unique parmis une multitude panoplie de choix d’arias. Ces oeuvres sont typiquement accompagnées au piano mais pour cet album Caroline Léonardelli a elle-même arrangé la plupart des arias pour son instrument la harpe. Ce nouvel album représente 8 compositeurs, certains faisant carrière dans des maisons d’opera et orchestres (Verdi, Puccini, Respighi), les autres compositeurs étant respectés pour leurs airs (Tosti, Leoncavallo).
Ces airs sont soit extrêmement connus ou tristement souvent oubliés. Pour cet album la majorité du programme represente la période romantique de la fin du 19 ème et 20ème siècle en Italie. Cette époque était particulièrement foisonnante et riche. Certaines pièces accompagnées par la harpe représentent une première car elles sont généralement écrites pour un autre instrument.