Lea Desandre & Thomas Dunford

"We need love!" From this crucial observation was born the 2023 album Idylle, in which mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and lutist Thomas Dunford revisit three hundred years of French love songs. And as everyone knows, France and love are inseparable …

From longing and desire to fascination and ecstatic joy, love in all its guises has inspired French poets and composers for  centuries. Performing together in the 2022 recital Amazone, Desandre and Dunford this time explore a repertoire of infinite nuance. On the one hand, there is the delicacy of the Baroque courtly air, with composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Michel Lambert. On the other, we are treated to the Belle Époque refinement of French mélodie: Reynaldo Hahn, André Messager and Claude Debussy, who knew all too well the subtle tremors of the heart. French variety and chanson are also along for the ride, with Françoise Hardy and Barbara rising to similar heights of delicate yet poignant passion. And the goddess and prophetess of this “fire that burns our wild souls,” Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène, of course, has the final word.

Mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre 
Lute Thomas Dunford

Honoré d’Ambruis
Le doux silence de nos bois

Reynaldo Hahn
Études latines: No. 2, “Néère” / “À Chloris”

Françoise Hardy
Le temps de l’amour
Le premier bonheur du jour

Erik Satie
Gnossiennes: No. 1
Gymnopédies: No. 1

Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Celle qui fait tout mon tourment
Auprès du feu l’on fait l’amour
Tristes déserts, sombre retraite
Sans frayeur dans ce bois

André Messager
L’Amour masqué: “J’ai deux amants”

Michel Lambert
Ma bergère est tendre et fidèle
Ombre de mon amant
Vos mépris chaque jour

Robert de Visée
Suite No. 7 in D minor:
III. Sarabande
V. Chaconne

Sébastien Le Camus
On n’entend rien dans ce bocage
Laissez durer la nuit

Claude Debussy
Pelléas et Mélisande: “Mes longs cheveux descendent”

Barbara
Dis, quand reviendras-tu ?

Jacques Offenbach
La Belle Hélène: “Amours divins!”

 
At the end of the concert, meet Lea Desandre & Thomas Dunford for a signing session!
Level 1, near the box office.