The album title, 'Parfum', was chosen because the poems explore intangible evanescence, like the aroma of a costly perfume that leaves behind a hint of elegance.
Composer Biography
Benjamin Britten composed his Quatre chansons françaises at the age of 14, dedicating them to his parents for their 27th wedding anniversary.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The poems featured on this album were written in the spirit of the 'l'art pour l'art' movement, which championed art for art's sake and sought pure beauty.
Performer Biography
The Bamberg Symphony, the orchestra on this recording, was founded in 1946 by musicians who had fled their homes, including former members of the German Philharmonic Orchestra Prague.
Composition History
Maurice Ravel's orchestral song-cycle Shéhérazade re-uses material from an opera he initially planned based on 'A Thousand and One Nights', but only an overture survived.
Composition History
John Adams's orchestration of Debussy's Cinq Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, titled Le Livre de Baudelaire, dates from 1994 and omits one of the original five songs.
Composer Biography
Henri Duparc, composer of L'invitation au voyage and La vie antérieure, stopped composing for almost half a century after his 17th song due to a debilitating hyper-aesthesia.
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