Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Charles Gounod: Mélodies (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Charles Gounod: Mélodies (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:20:35 minutes | 1,30 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Aparté

Remembering Gounod as just a masterful composer of great French operas, it’s easy to forget that he also wrote, among many various pieces of work, close to one hundred and fifty melodies throughout is long and rich career. Surprisingly, almost one third of these pages were written in English (during his years in London, between 1870 and 1874), about fifteen of them are in Italian, as well as a few in Spanish and German. Most of them of course are in French, among which Tassis Christoyannis and Jeff Cohen selected twenty-four gems, a comprehensive array ranging from his very first published melody – his Où voulez-vous aller from 1839, the year of his Prix de Rome! – to his À une jeune Grecque of the utmost maturity, in 1884. The composer explored all of the styles he held dear, with all the eclecticism he’s famous for: French romanticism, German Lied, orientalism, old-fashioned archaic writing… Gounod was particularly sensitive to the words’ meaning as much as their sound, the back and forth of verses and the variety of periods, and excelled in finding a melodic movement to perfectly fit the inflexions of pronunciation, the expressive flow of speech and setting the perfect phrasing for an eloquent result. With him, unlike his illustrious elder Berlioz, music served the words, carried them and elevated them if possible. Let’s discover this beautiful pearl rosary, made of works we would love to hear in recital more often.

Tracklist:
1-1. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Ma Belle Amie est morte, CG. 404 (03:22)
1-2. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Priere, CG. 427 (02:54)
1-3. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Medje, CG. 407 (03:48)
1-4. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Le Souvenir, CG. 444 (04:09)
1-5. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Ce que je suis sans toi, CG. 355 (02:57)
1-6. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – La Chanson du pecheur, CG. 397 (06:31)
1-7. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Heureux sera le jour CG. 388 (03:11)
1-8. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Tombez, mes ailes !, CG. 463 (03:06)
1-9. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Je ne puis esperer, CG. 394 (01:41)
1-10. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – O ma belle rebelle, CG. 414 (02:50)
1-11. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Primavera, CG. 430 (02:25)
1-12. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Quanti mai!, CG. 432 (02:00)
1-13. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Venise, CG. 468 (04:45)
1-14. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Si vous n’ouvrez votre fenetre, CG. 440 (02:02)
1-15. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Serenade, CG. 437 (03:56)
1-16. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Ou voulez-vous aller ?, CG. 419 (03:16)
1-17. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Aubade, CG. 330 (02:42)
1-18. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Le Banc de pierre, CG. 335 (05:45)
1-19. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Au printemps, CG. 331 (01:40)
1-20. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – A une jeune Grecque, CG. 324 (04:14)
1-21. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Maid of Athens, CG. 406 (03:50)
1-22. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Good Night, CG. 386 (02:23)
1-23. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Sweet baby, sleep, CG. 445 (03:07)
1-24. Tassis Christoyannis & Jeff Cohen – Depart, CG. 369 (03:50)

Personnel:
Tassis Christoyannis, tenor
Jeff Cohen, piano

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