Artist: Hélène Schmitt, Antoine De Grolée
Ladies
Year Of Release: 2025
Label: Aeolus
Genre: Classical
Quality: flac lossless (tracks)
Total Size: 394 mb


Tracklist

01. Three Compositions for Violin and Piano, Op. 40: No. 1, La Captive
02. Romance
03. Six Morceaux pour Violon et Piano: No. 1, Romance
04. Six Morceaux pour Violon et Piano: No. 2, Bohémienne
05. Six Morceaux pour Violon et Piano: No. 3, Berceuse
06. Nocturne
07. D'un matin de printemps
08. Trois Fantaisies, Op. 48: No. 1, Fantaisie I
09. Trois Fantaisies, Op. 48: No. 2, Fantaisie II
10. Trois Fantaisies, Op. 48: No. 3, Fantaisie III
11. Lullaby
12. Midsummer Moon
13. Three Compositions for Violin and Piano, Op. 40: No. 2, Berceuse
14. Three Compositions for Violin and Piano, Op. 40: No. 3, Mazurka
15. Six Morceaux pour Violon et Piano: No. 4, Mazourke
16. Six Morceaux pour Violon et Piano: No. 5, Vieille Chanson
17. Six Morceaux pour Violon et Piano: No. 6, Tarentelle
18. Trois Morceaux, Op. 31: No. 2, Romanza
19. Trois Morceaux, Op. 31: No. 1, Andantino

French violinist Hélène Schmitt, internationally renowned for her work in the field of baroque music, takes her audience into unexpected territory: the short pieces by six female composers - five from the turn of the century and one contemporary - are usually overlooked, not only because of their limited format, but also because their creators, as women, had to overcome major difficulties to establish a lasting reputation in the music world. This makes it all the more rewarding to discover these works - from pure romanticism to tonal openness - performed here with warmth and sensitivity.

The ladies' program unfolds along a French-American axis. Fittingly, the recordings took place in the historic Parisian hall of an American patron. The choice of instruments was equally well thought out: gut strings were used, as was customary at the time, and the Steinway grand piano, a historic model from New York, is accompanied with eloquence and sensitivity by pianist Antoine de Grolée, winner of the 2007 Long-Thibaud Competition.

The detailed essay by Hélène Schmitt that accompanies this book offers a fascinating insight into the biographies as well as the living and working conditions of female composers on both sides of the Atlantic.