*** Résumé en anglais seulement ***
The genre of melodie underwent a great deal of change between Claude Debussy’s date of birth and the publication of his first songs in 1879. With some simplification, one could say that this was the period when the French song grew to become an established form of high art music, when it left behind the features of the earlier, simpler genre, the romance, once and forever. German models played a pivotal role in this transformation process, as they did elsewhere in 19th century French music. The major impact was made by the refined complexity of Schubert’s Lieder, the dramatic treatment of the vocal and piano parts, the idea that the piano accompaniment can be much more than mere acoustic tapestry behind the simple but attractive solo voice and it can be a real partner of the latter. Here the song is a drama involving at least two protagonists. This album features some of the best French songs of the era performed by the wonderful soprano, Emoke Baráth, accompanied on the piano by her former teacher at the Liszt Academy of Music, Emese Virág.