Biography

Born in Repentigny, Quebec, soprano Karina Gauvin has been called “the incarnation of a Cleopatra through songs with haunting modulations” (Diapason). Her repertory spans three centuries, but she is known above all for her striking interpretations of characters in 18th century operas and oratorios by Vivaldi, Handel, Gluck, Mozart, and others. Whether performing with period instrument ensembles like the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Quebec’s Les Violons du Roy, or with modern orchestras like the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, Karina Gauvin is adept at riveting an audience. Her soprano voice “is like a clear, refreshing and inexhaustible spring that darts and sparkles around any ornamental obstacle in its way,” wrote Opera News. Gauvin’s performances with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra earned her nominations at the Grammy Awards in 2007 and 2009. Pianist Michael McMahon is renowned as one of Canada’s premier accompanists. 4th LMMC appearance.

http://karinagauvin.com/en/home/

Notes

Schumann wrote his first songs in 1827 at the age of 17. He wrote no more until 1840, his annus mirabilis of song, during which he wrote more than half of his total output of Lieder (nearly 140 out of more than 250), including most of the best as well. Opus 39 is his second cycle entitled Liederkreis. A Kreis is a circle or orbit, so a Liederkreis simply means a song cycle. While Opus 39, set to poems of Joseph von Eichendorff (1788-1857), is not strictly speaking a cycle in the sense of an identifiable course of events that returns to its point of origin, or a continuous story, there is nevertheless a psychological unity of theme and atmosphere in that all the songs are related to love and nature, and the moods expressed therein show the sequence of thoughts toward a final, exuberant flowering of love’s triumph. Schumann called Opus 39 “my most romantic music ever”.        

Massenet earned his reputation  ̶  and what a reputation it was!  ̶  as a composer of music for the stage: operas (more than two dozen, including such evergreens as Werther and Manon), incidental music, ballets, and sacred dramas. But he also left a substantial body of mélodies (art songs) – more than 250 of them  ̶  in addition to vocal duets, trios and quartets. In his book French Song from Berlioz to Duparc, Fritz Noske states that “the essence of [Massenet’s] style is not the picturesque, exotic painting or local colour, but the expression of a delicate sentimentality realized with extreme refinement”. Many of these songs quickly became popular favorites. But taste is fickle, and this body of works is only rarely encountered today. 

Robert Markow