Amarante – Airs de cour / Céline Scheen

Recommendation

Please be aware that no English notes accompany this Flora Records album of songs performed by Céline Scheen titled Amarante. Also, there are no translations of the songs, which are sung and printed in the booklet in French. If you don’t read or understand French and have no interest at all in listening to songs not knowing what is being sung, you should probably hit the back button now. However, even with this strike against it, I’m strongly compelled to recommend this beautifully packaged, recorded and performed Flora CD of airs de cour from several little known 17th century French composers.

Céline Scheen is a Belgian operatic soprano and is accompanied here by Philippe Pierlot playing bass viol and Eduardo Egüez on the lute and theorbo. I didn’t need to know what Ms. Scheen was singing to thoroughly enjoy her program of melancholy songs interspersed with instrumental interludes. Her dark, smoky soprano is void of any distracting idiosyncrasies and it seems perfect to me – passionate, but understatedly so, unaffected, languid and pure.

I'm new to the Flora label, which itself seems to be rather new. The earliest releases that I can find from them come from nearly a year ago, April of 2012, and I count only fourteen titles in their entire catalog. Two more Flora Records CDs have just arrived, and I've listened to one of them, Strike the Viol, which is music of Jenkins, Lawes and Locke. It too is very good, similar to this but entirely instrumental. The third is a disc of consort music (musicke, actually) by William Lawes. Flora seems to be developing a specialty for this repertoire, and they do it extremely well. Incidentally, both of the newest titles from Flora have at least limited notes in English.

Album Overview

Amarante Airs de Cour
Recorded in December 2010 - SKU: FLORA2210

Track List

1. Prélude, 01:20
2. Ou luis tu soleil de mon ame, 02:40
3. Beaux yeux qui voyes clairement, 02:31
4. Fantaisiye, 03:43
5. Quoi Clorinde, 01:38
6. Ballet, 00:54
7. Graves tesmoins, 02:49
8. Sérénade, 01:59
9. Fantasye sur La Passamez D'italie, 03:05
10. Prélude, 01:29
11. Les yeux baignez de pleurs, 04:11
12. Amarante, 04:49
13. Beaux yeux, 04:00
14. Prélude, 01:06
15. Ah qui voudra désormais s'engager, 02:06
16. Par mes chants tristes et touchants, 05:04
17. Vos mespris, 02:20
18. Arbres, rochers, 03:04
19. Chaconne, 04:09
20. Plainte sur la mort de M. Lambert, 06:04

Source: labelflora.net

Céline Scheen, soprano	Soprano: Céline Scheen  Céline Scheen (b. 1976 in Verviers, Belgium) is a Belgian operatic soprano. She began her vocal studies with Annie Frantz. In 1996, she entered the Royal Academy of Mons and obtained a First Prize in the class of Marcel Vanaud. She then received a degree in song and methodology of song at the Royal Academy of Brussels. In 1998, she obtained the Nany Philippart’s grant with Chapelle musicale Reine Élisabeth. For more information, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9line_Scheen.
Philippe Pierlot, viola da gamba	Viola da Gamba: Philippe Pierlot  Philippe Pierlot directs the Ricercar Consort ensemble with whom he interprets mostly works of the 17th century, revealing unknown compositions to the public. Several contemporary pieces were written for him, and he is also one of the rare “baryton” players, very peculiar instrument for which Haydn wrote more than 150 trios and other pieces. For more information, please visit http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Pierlot-Philippe.htm.
Eduardo Egüez, lute and theorbo	Lute and Theorbo: Eduardo Egüez Born in Buenos Aires, Eduardo Egüez belongs to the new generation of argentine lutenists. He first studied guitar with Miguel Angel Girollet and Eduardo Fernández. His studies in composition were conducted at the Catholic Argentine University, while in 1995 he obtained his diploma in lute from the “Schola Cantorum Basiliensis” under the guidance the Hopkinson Smith. For more information, please visit http://www.eduardoeguez.com/html/fr/home.htm.

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