Till Solveig Karen Vourc'h & Susan Manoff

• Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907): I Rosentiden:
• 1 Grieg: I Rosentiden 03:28
• Hjertets Melodier, Op. 5:
• 2 Grieg: Hjertets Melodier, Op. 5: No. 3, Jeg elsker Dig 01:34
• En drom:
• 3 Grieg: En drom 02:17
• En Svane:
• 4 Grieg: En Svane 02:37
• To brune ojne:
• 5 Grieg: To brune ojne 01:05
• Peer Gynt, Op. 23 (Music for Ibsen's drama):
• 6 Grieg: Peer Gynt, Op. 23 (Music for Ibsen's drama): Solveig's song 05:13
• Killingdans:
• 7 Grieg: Killingdans 01:56
• Med en vandlilje:
• 8 Grieg: Med en vandlilje 02:08
• Ture Rangstrom (1884 - 1947): Pan:
• 9 Rangstrom: Pan 03:11
• Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957): Se'n har jag ej fragat mera:
• 10 Sibelius: Se'n har jag ej fragat mera 02:10
• Sibelius: Marssnön:
• 11 Sibelius: Marssnön 01:29
• Men min fagel märks doch icke:
• 12 Sibelius: Men min fagel märks doch icke 02:28
• Svarta Rosor:
• 13 Sibelius: Svarta Rosor 01:53
• Four Songs, Op. 17:
• 14 Sibelius: Four Songs, Op. 17: No. 5, En slända 04:59
• Flickan kom ifran älsklings möte:
• 15 Sibelius: Flickan kom ifran älsklings möte 02:39
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Trois chansons de Bilitis:
• 16 Debussy: Trois chansons de Bilitis: I. La Flûte de Pan 02:55
• 17 Debussy: Trois chansons de Bilitis: II. La Chevelure 03:52
• 18 Debussy: Trois chansons de Bilitis: III. Le tombeau des naïades 02:50
• Apparition:
• 19 Debussy: Apparition 03:54
• Beau Soir:
• 20 Debussy: Beau Soir 02:39
• Total Runtime 55:17

Info for Till Solveig

“In the works by Grieg, we wanted there to be unity in the language. So To brune ojne and Jeg elsker dig, by the Danish poet Andersen, are sung in Norwegian. The songs of Op. 48, settings of various German poems, were translated by the poet Nordahl Rolfsen, who was a close friend of Grieg’s. And I have chosen to sing his translations of the two German poems, by Goethe and von Bodenstedt: En drøm (Ein Traum) and I rosentiden (Zur Rosenzeit). They are usually sung in German. In Grieg there is no tragedy, but instead a gentle Nordic melancholy.

In Sibelius, on the other hand, nature is brutal and love is passionate. Never has the personification of nature been as present as it is in these songs. Here, everything evokes the end of winter and the gushing waters of spring (Marssno, Men min fagel), betrayal (Se n har jag, Flickan kom ifran), despair and weariness with life, conveyed by the image of a rose tree growing in the heart (Svarta rosor); I thought it was interesting to include the song En slanda, in which the music, rather than the poem itself, evokes a dragonfly, symbolising the pleasures of life which come to distract the mind of a person who is lost in thought. The idea of completing this recording with Debussy’s very sensual evocations of amorous desire expressed in the three Chansons de Bilitis came quite naturally. Apparition is for me one of Mallarmé’s finest poems, and in his setting Debussy conveys perfectly the ecstatic yet unsettling feelings caused by love at first sight.

We chose to end this recording with Beau Soir. This infinitely gentle song invites us to contemplate nature and the natural cycle of water and of human life.” Karen Vourc’h

Karen Vourc’h studies with Christa Ludwig. In 2010, she will be Annina in Menotti's Saint of Bleeker Street at the Opéra de Marseille, Musetta at the Opéra de Monaco, Mélisande at the Opéra Comique, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and Vincenette (Mireille) at the Chorégies d' Orange. In March she shared the rôle of Emilie in Kaia Saariaho’s new opera, with Karita Mattila, to good reviews.

"The predominantly Scandinavian repertory on this album might seem an odd choice for a French soprano, but Karen Vourc'h, a former physics student, is of partly Norwegian background A few of the Grieg songs, such as Solveig's Song (track 5), are familiar recital items, but much of Vourc'h's material is unusual. The Grieg songs, even where originally in other languages, are sung in Norwegian. A group of songs by Jean Sibelius is in Swedish, and Vourc'h makes a good case for these little-known, rough-hewn pieces. Lesser known still is Ture Rangström's Pan (track 9), a gorgeous interlude of deep summer in the middle of the program. Vourc'h returns to more familiar ground with a set of Debussy songs at the end. What's most impressive is how she modulates her voice among the various styles present in this little vocal recital, with a soft, luxuriant sound in the Grieg, a rougher edge in the Sibelius, and a classic repose in Debussy's concluding Beau soir. There isn't a dull moment in this performance of largely fresh material, and Vourc'h makes it seem both personal and perfectly controlled. Highly recommended." (James Manheim, AMG)

Karen Vourc'h, soprano
Susan Manoff, piano

Karen Vourc'h
is an eclectic artist appreciated for the beauty of her voice and the sensitivity of her interpretations.

In 2009, she won the top Award del Duca, from the Academie des Beaux-Arts and the Revelation Classique award from les Victoires de la Musique. She also won several international awards including Toulouse, New Voices, Verviers and Montserrat Caballe.

She is invited among the most prestigious scenes in the world : Opera House of Amsterdam, Geneva, Hambourg, Paris ( Opera Comique ), Lausanne, Anvers/Gand, Lyon, Köln, Marseille, Nizza, Philarmony of Paris, Helsinki, Porto, Köln, Stockholm, Saint-Petersbourg, Lisboa , Singapour, Royal Albert Hall ( Londres ), Santa Cecilia ( Rome ), NHK ( Tokyo ), Palau de Arte ( Barcelona ), Palais des Beaux-arts ( Bruxelles ), Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Théatre du Jeu de Paume ( Aix en Provence ),

She sings under the direction of Louis Langrée, Sir John Eliott Gardiner, Alain Altinoglu, Daniel Harding, Stephane Denève, Jérémie Rohrer, Charles Dutoit, Kent Nagano, Pascal Rophé, Laurence Equilbey, Michel Plasson, Kasuchi Ono and works with famous stage directors as Robert Carsen, Stéphane Braunschweig, Ludovic Lagarde, Benjamin Lazar, Krystof Warlikowski.

Her many engagements in France and abroad include la Comtesse ( Nozze di Figaro ) in Lausanne ; Sister Blanche de la Force ( Dialogue des Carmélites ) in Nizza and Roma ; Elle ( La Voix Humaine ) à la Philharmonie de Paris, Angers, Nantes, Riga, Firenze, Lyon and Köln ; Melisande ( Pelléas et Melisande ), unamimously praised in Paris, Londres, Köln, Stockholm, Hambourg, Tokyo, Saint-Petersbourg ; Pamina ( Zauberflöte ) in Avignon, Reims, Besançon ; Donna Elvira ( Don Giovanni ) in Tours ; Musetta ( Bohème ) in Tours and Avignon ; Vincenette ( Mireille ) in Chorégies d’ Orange festival ; L’Infante ( Der Zwerg de Zemlisnki ) in Lyon ; Marzelline ( Fidelio ) in Lyon ; Aninta ( Saint of Bleeker Street de Menotti ) in Marseille ; Manon in Saint-Etienne; Micaela ( Carmen ) in Limoges ; Violetta ( Traviata ) et Fiordiligi ( Cosi fan tutte ) in Besançon ; Fortuna ( Poppea e Nerone de Monteverdi/Boesmans ) in Montpellier .

For concerts, she sings la Chute de la Maison Usher and Martyre de Saint-Sébastien from Debussy in Köln, Lisbonne et Bruxelles, le Roi David from Honegger in Dublin, Athalie de Mendelsohn in Paris , la 4eme Symphonie de Malher, des Madrigaux from Monteverdi with Cris de Paris ensemble.

She is very popular with contemporary composers and frequently plays roles from the contemporary repertoire : Kaija Saariaho ( la Passion de Simone, Emilie, Quatre Instants ), Pascal Dusapin ( Romeo et Juliette, Wenn du dem Wind, Canto, Wolken ), Guillaume Connesson ( Medea, Elégie de l’amour obscur ), Peter Eötvös ( Le Balcon ) Philippe Fenelon ( JJR ), Mathis Nitschke ( Happy! Happy !), Chaya Cernowim ( Infinite Now - Opernwelt Prize 2017 ).

She particularly loves Chamber Music and sings frequently in recitals with Trio Wanderer, pianists as Vanessa Wagner, Pascal Amoyel, Anne Queffelec, Anne Le Bozec, Susan Manoff. She recently collaborated with jazz musicians Guillaume de Chassy and Thomas Savy, as well as the cellist Louis Rodde, for a unique program between F.Schubert et D.Ellington.

Among her futur projects are the world creation of the opera Nos Vies éternelles of P.Bartholomée in Metz opera house, le Martyre de Saint Sébastien of Debussy in Warsaw, her first Wagner with a FlowerMaid in Parsifal in Toulouse, Stabat Mater of Poulenc in Nantes, Altenberglieder of A.Berg, in Bremen.

Her discography includes the opera of Noé de Bizet, with Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, a solo recital focussing on Grieg/ Sibelius/ Debussy with S.Manoff playing the piano ( Aparté ), Monteverdi/Rossi cantates with Cris de Paris ( Aparté ), Greek songs from Ravel avec L’Orchestre de Lyon conducted by Leonard Slatkin ( Naxos ), Pelleas et Melisande ( Gardiner/ Braunschweig ) live recorded by Mezzo in the Opéra Comique ; Quatre Instants and Emilie Suite de K.Saariaho with the Strasbourg Philharmonic orchestra directed by Marco Letonja ( Ondine ). The Schubert/Ellington recital has just been recorded with B-Records label and will be out in Spring 2019.

She studied at the Opéra Studio in Zurich and joined the Post graduate course of CNSMDP in Paris. She followed the courses from Christa Ludwig, M.Walker, E.Golgevit et Chantal Mathias .

Karen Vourc’h graduated from Mc Gill University (Canada) in Physics and completed her education with a postgraduated diploma in theoretical physics at ENS/Paris-Ulm.

Booklet for Till Solveig