The World Feels Dusty

Ernest Chausson Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Op. 19; Samuel Barber Three Songs, Op. 10; Claude Debussy Trois Chansons de Bilitis; Aaron Copland Two Songs from ‘Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson’; Errollyn Wallen Night Thoughts

Sarah Connolly & Joseph Middleton
CHAN 20285
Chandos.net

Dame Sarah Connolly and Joseph Middleton present a richly rewarding programme of art songs from a distinguished array of composers, showcasing the extraordinary chemistry between these two outstanding performers.

The recital opens with Chausson's Poème de l'amour et de la mer, a work that took almost a decade to compose and reveals Wagner's influence on the younger French composer. It makes for an impressive opener. Middleton's superb accompaniments are fantastic throughout; if you are accustomed to hearing this work with orchestra, then the piano version of Chausson's masterpiece is revelatory. Connolly's rich tone conveys a commanding performance, capturing the spirit of the piece with its beautiful colouration. Everything has been dusted and polished to perfection.

Composed in 1935 during a study trip to Rome, Barber's Three Songs are set to poems by James Joyce and portray three distinct love affairs. Debussy's Trois Chansons de Bilitis sets the erotic poems of Pierre Louÿs, which were all the rage in Paris at the turn of the century.

Aaron Copland completed his Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1950, though he declared that they should not be regarded as a set but as twelve individual works. Connolly here includes 'I've heard an organ talk sometimes' and 'The world feels dusty', the latter providing the album with its evocative title. The range and emotion that both artists bring to this performance is truly impressive.

The programme concludes with the première recording of Errollyn Wallen's Night Thoughts: a cycle of four songs commissioned by Leeds Lieder and first performed by Dame Sarah and Joseph, the cycle's dedicatees. The cycle took its inspiration from Howard Hodgkin's painting Night Thoughts by setting two of Errollyn Wallen's own poems alongside one by Emily Dickinson and lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Once again, it demonstrates the remarkable chemistry between these two exceptional performers as they capture the sentiment with intelligence and sensitivity.

Everything about this recital works superbly well.