Claire Booth - Cocteau's Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The largest part of the output of the Hamburg-born composer and writer Walter Niemann (1876-1973), a student of both Humperdinck and Reinecke, is piano music an astonishing 1,000 or so pieces, divided into 189 opus numbers. Most of them are lyrical miniatures in a warm and approachable late-Romantic style, some evoking the music of the past. Occasionally, though, as in Hamburg, a recollection of scenes from his childhood, a degree of mild dissonance indicates his desire to stay true to his memories of growing up in a port city.

Pairing the music of Schoenberg with the composer's own paintings, InchExpressionist MusicInch is a new album featuring remarkable interpretations of Schoenberg from soprano Claire Booth with pianist Christopher Glynn. This evocative album explores the expanses of human emotion through Arnold Schoenberg's captivating songs, each corresponding to Schoenberg's paintings.The particular works chosen for this recording encompass themes of expectation, flesh, nocturne, hatred, satire, thinking, and tears, providing a comprehensive journey through the complexities of human nature. Schoenberg's profound connection to painting is reflected in these songs, unveiling shifting colours, raw emotions, and profound sensuality.Soprano Claire Booth has gained a reputation for her explorations of diverse repertoire, with her extensive operatic and concert engagements, including collaborations with major orchestras and festivals, attesting to her versatility as an artist. Booth's collaborations with director Netia Jones in producing innovative productions underscore her commitment to pushing artistic boundaries.Recorded against the backdrop of the challenges of the global landscape, this album is a testament to the enduring power of music. Despite the tumultuous times, Booth and Glynn's delivery of Schoenberg's work resonates with timeless beauty and relevance. InchExpressionist MusicInch invites listeners to explore the complexities of Schoenberg's compositions, providing an immersive and significant experience into the world of expressionism.

The world premiere recording of Durey's L'Offrande lyrique (Op. 4), six songs set to texts by Rabindranath Tagore (recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature) in French translation by Andre Gide, is a highlight of this collection. Musically inspired by the atonality of Arnold Schoenberg's The Book of Hanging Gardens, and often credited as the first piece of free twelve-note technique in French music, L'Offrande lyrique navigates a harmonic language which can hold clarity and vivid colour in Lumiere ! ma lumiere !, or blur into dark heavy clouded gesture in Les nuages s'entassent, effectively supporting Tagore's language. At times, the words seem to muse over seemingly unconnected piano motifs, before meeting- sometimes harmonically, sometimes not-sometimes walking the same path, other times meandering separately again. For Paris 1913 to include a world premiere recording of such important music, written over a century ago, is thrilling, and places Durey firmly alongside his contemporaries in the cafes and salons of pre-war Paris. Far from being overshadowed by the better-known composers in this anthology, these songs stand as a testament to the strength of French melodies of the era. © Andrew Matthews-Owen & Claire Booth