Gramophone Magazine
March 2023
Editor's Choice

Sandrine Piau (soprano) David Kadouch (piano)

Liszt: Der Fischerknabe, S.292 No. 1
Wolf, H: Mörike-Lieder. No. 23, 8 & 12
Schubert: Gesange Aus 'wilhelm Meister' D877 (Goethe). No. 2 & 3.
Schumann, Clara: Sie liebten sich beide, Op. 13 No. 2
Schumann, Clara: Lorelei
Schumann, Clara: Deuxieme Scherzo, Op. 14
Schubert: Erlkönig, D328
Schubert: Der Tod und das Mädchen, D531
Schubert: Kennst du das Land (Mignons Gesang), D321
Duparc: L'Invitation au voyage
Duparc: La Vie antérieure
Boulanger, L: Si tout ceci n’est qu’un pauvre rêve
Debussy: Recueillement
Boulanger, L: Vous m'avez regardé avec toute votre âme
Boulanger, L: Cortège
Debussy: Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire. No. 3 & No. 5
Liszt: Comment, disaient-ils (Hugo), S276
Schubert: 4 Gesänge aus 'Wilhelm Meister', D. 877: No. 4, Lied der Mignon [III]. Langsam

Sandrine Piau and the pianist David Kadouch have formed a new duo whose first concerts have been enthusiastically received. As is her wont, the French soprano enjoys intermingling languages and the worlds of different composers and poets around a theme; here Schubert, Liszt, Wolf and Clara Schumann rub shoulders with Lili Boulanger, Duparc and Debussy. Sandrine Piau explains: 'The promise of new horizons, the joy of new encounters: the journey in all its forms was the common thread of this recital for David and me. From the quest for a longed-for yet inaccessible elsewhere to the ultimate transition to death, it maps out our aspirations, our obstacles and the "joyous getaways" offered to us by the whirlwind of life. She quotes a beautiful poem often attributed to Pablo Neruda: 'He dies slowly who does not travel, who does not read, who does not listen to music, who does not know how to find grace in his own eyes.'

"It all adds up to a beautiful, often profoundly affecting recital, to which you will want to return again and again." - Gramophone Magazine, March 2023.