La Note d'Or

Works of the Belle Époque for soprano, string quartet and piano

Verena Rein
Čiurlionis Quartet
Sergej Okruško

Gabriel Fauré · La Bonne Chanson
Ernest Chausson · Chanson perpétuelle
Guillaume Lekeu · Nocturne
Maurice Ravel · string quartet

Dreyer · Gaido (released 2006)

Press and radio response:

March 4, 2008 · The whole cycle La Bonne Chanson by Gabriel Fauré from the CD La Note d'Or was broadcast at Bayern4 Klassik (Bayerischer Rundfunk) as part of the series Cantabile.

January 17, 2007: CD presentation on Radio Bremen in its "Klassik.Vokal" feature series on French vocal music of the 19th and 20th centuries. Editor: Wolfgang Stapelfeldt: "In the second half of the 19th century, greater efforts were made in France to emancipate the ars gallica, that is, music by French composers. This is illustrated in a most remarkable way in the booklet to a marvellous new CD released on Dreyer-Gaido. Entitled: La Note d'Or, the CD features lieder by Ernest Chausson, Guillaume Lekeu and Gabriel Fauré, as well as the "String Quartet in F Major" by Maurice Ravel. (…) Gabriel Fauré composed his cycle "La Bonne Chanson" between 1882 and 1894 to texts by the well-known poet Paul Verlaine, who celebrated his love for Mathilde Mauté de Fleuville in these poems. Fauré, however, omitted 12 of the 21 poems to avoid the cycle's negative and gloomy atmosphere. The result is an idealised yet glorious image of love, which soprano Verena Rein is now going to grace us with."

29 December 2006 · CD review in "Klassik heute" (read the full review here) (in German). Excerpt: "(…) Soprano Verena Rein, with sensitive accompaniment by pianist Sergej Okrusko and the Čiurlionis Quartet, performs the lieder with great passion and a penchant for the dramatic, rather than with the distance and restraint we have come to expect from most French interpreters. While stylistically perhaps unorthodox, this performance is convincing all the same, thanks to the artistic seriousness and vigour, and, not least, the singer's vocal prowess."

December 28, 2006 · "La Note d'Or" is recommended on "Klassika" (read the full text here). Excerpt: "(…) Soprano Verena Rein, the Lithuanian Čiurlionis Quartet and Ukrainian pianist Sergej Okrusko present a recording displaying these very characteristics of French song with verve and passion. (…) The excellent sound quality of the recording certainly matches this superb performance."

On November 21, 2006, "La Note d'Or" was presented and recommended on Deutschlandradio Kultur : "(…) The singer elegantly displays a genuine feel for the songs' sensitive, eccentric poetry. (…)" "(…) One can hear the Čiurlionis Quartet perform with delightful delicacy (…)"